304 


UC-NRLF 


THE    - 

LAWS  OF  ExNGLISH  RHYTHM 


MARK  H.  UDDELL 


CD 

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A   BRIEF   ABSTRACT  OF 


A  NEW  ENGLISH  PROSODY 


BASED    UPON 


THE  LAWS  OF  ENGLISH  RHYTHM 


BY 


MARK  H.  LIDDEU 


AUTHOR     OF     AN     INTRODUCTION     TO     THE     SCIENTIFIC 

STUDY  OF  poetry:  EDITOR  OF  THE  ELIZABETHAN 

SHAKSPERE,     CHAUCER'S      PROLOGUE 

KNIGHTES  TALE  ETC.  ASSOCIATE 

EDITOR    OF    THE  GLOBE 

CHAUCER. 


LAFAYETTE    INDIANA 
19     14 

ALL  RIGHTS  RESERVED 


Copyrighted  1914 

by 
Mask  H.  Liddell 


ERRATA. 

P.  10,  line  19,  for  5R  read  4R. 

P.  23,  line  26,  for  principal  read  principle. 

P.  32,  lines  12,  13,  14  should  follow  footnote. 

P.  33,  line  4,  for  EczF   read   EccF. 

P.  38,  line  10,  for  man   read   wan. 

P.  42,  line  18,  for  That  read  What. 


MURPHEY-BIVINS   CO.    PRESS 
LAFAYETTE.    INDIANA 


PREFACE 

Our  traditional  Prosody  comes  to  us  from  the  Gram- 
marians of  the  Renaissance;  they  received  it  from  their 
Classic  predecessors.  The  Classic  Grammarians  natur- 
ally based  their  Prosody  upon  Quantity,  since  the  length 
or  shortness  of  the  successive  syllables  obviously  deter- 
mined the  form  of  Latin  and  Greek  verse.  The  system 
was  briefly  as  follows: 

When  successive  long  or  short  syllables  were  ar- 
ranged in  definite  groupings  'measured  off'  by  the  total 
time  value  of  each  group,  the  result  was  metre  (metrum). 
These  groups  were  given  special  names — *trochaei*, 
'iambi',  'dactyli',  etc.  When  the  groups  followed  one  an- 
other in  certain  series,  like  bars  of  music  they  produced 
each  a  definite  tempo-accent  ('ictus').  These  ictuses"  fol- 
lowing one  another  in  series  yielded  rhythm  ('rhythmus' 
or  *numerus').  In  Classic  Prosody  therefore  Rhythm  is 
the  indirect  effect  of  Metre. 

English  Poetry,  however,  does  not  employ  Metre  as 
a  means  of  producing  Rhythm.  To  develop  their  varied 
rhythms — infinitely  more  varied  and  subtle  than  those  of 
Latin  or  Greek  verse — English  poets  have  always  depend- 
ed directly  upon  the  varying  intensities  of  the  successive 
syllables  regardless  of  their  time  values. 

The  psychic  effect  of  a  rhythm  regulated  by  time  vari- 
ation is  quite  different  from  that  produced  by  a  rhythm 
whose  regulating  element  is  intensity  variation.  But  over- 
looking this  difference  for  the  nonce,  the  fact  that  Classic 
prosody  recognized  only  two  differentia  for  the  syllables 
of  a  verse,  viz.  their  "long"  or  their  "short"  quantity  and 
noted  them  by  only  two  (marks,  the  makron  and  the 
breve,  makes  it  impossible  for  us  to  use  the  Classic 
notation  for  English  Prosody,  which  must  recognize  at 
least  six  differentia  of  syllable  variation  and  should  have 
a  correspondingly  adequate  notation. 

If  Classic  Latin  had  had  six  different  standard  syllable 
lengths  and  a  sign  for  each,  by  assuming  that  metrical 


300884 


iv  PREFACE 

rhythm  and  stress  rhythm  were  in  effect  the  same  we 
might  transfer  the  machinery  of  Latin  Prosody  to  the 
notation  of  our  English  verse.  It  would  only  be  our 
psychology  that  was  at  fault:  our  prosody  would  still  be 
practical.  But  to  attempt  to  note  all  the  subtle  varia- 
tions of  an  English  verse  by  combinations  of  the  makron 
and  the  breve  is  like  attempting  to  note  a  singing  scale 
by  two  letters.  If  we  should  term  all  the  tones  below  £a 
"low"  and  note  them  by  the  letter  x,  and  all  the  tones 
above  fa  "high"  and  note  them  by  the  letter  y,  we  should 
have  a  song  notation  precisely  like  that  we  now  use  for 
English  poetry.  To  one  who  knew  it  beforehand  a  series 
of  these  x's  and  y's  might  vaguely  suggest  the  form  of  a 
musical  melody;  but  he  could  not  study  song  with  such  a 
system  of  notation,  however  he  might  be  able  to  sing  in 
spite  of  it.  Nor  can  we  study  English  poetry  by  means 
of  the  Classic  systetm  of  prosody. 

For  this  foreign  prosody  will  do  no  more  than  note  the 
number  of  rhythm  waves  in  a  line  of  English  verse  and 
their  general  character  as  rising  or  falling,  single  or 
double.  All  the  lines  of  a  poem  like  Paradise  Lost  will 
thus  appear  to  be  practically  the  same,  and  we  can  only 
talk  about  the  splendid  organ  music  of  Milton's  verses 
without  being  able  to  describe  in  our  notation  the  rhythm- 
ic details  of  a  single  one  of  them. 

Under  such  circumstances  it  is  hardly  to  be  wondered 
that  English  poetry  makes  but  weak  appeal  to  the  modern 
reader  who  does  not  happen  to  have  a  strong  native  feel- 
ing for  speech  rhythm. 

It  has  therefore  seemed  to  me  worth  while,  even  from 
a  mere  practical  point  of  view,  to  attempt  the  formulation 
of  a  new  method  for  the  scansion  of  our  English  poetry. 
In  1902  I  published  the  fundamental  principles  of  such  a 
system,  basing  them  as  well  as  I  could  upon  the  scien- 
tific facts  revealed  by  the  modern  study  of  English  His- 
torical Grammar.     Since  then  I  have  elaborated  the  work 


PREFACE  V 

into  a  science  of  English  Prosody;  but  owing  to  present 
conditions  of  scholarship  in  this  country  I  have  been  un- 
able to  find  a  publisher  for  the  book. 

The  laws  of  English  Sense  Stress  upon  which  the  sys- 
tem is  based  have,  however,  proved  useful  and  practical  in 
teaching  College  Classes;  I  have  therefore  published  them 
myself  in  an  inexpensive  form  that  they  might  be  avail- 
able for  those  teachers  who  cared  to  make  use  of  them. 

It  is  not  possible  in  the  brief  compass  of  a  pamphlet 
like  this  to  explain  either  the  psychology  or  the  historical 
development  of  an  Art  so  subtle  as  is  that  of  our  English 
Poetry.  So  I  must  ask  for  the  present  that  this  part  of 
the  work  be  taken  on  faith  and  the  whole  matter  tried 
out  upon  a  purely  practical  basis.  I  think  the  Laws  will 
be  sufficiently  evident  from  the  verses  cited  under  each 
at  least  to  constitute  a  working  hypothesis  for  the  prac- 
tical study  of  modern  English  verse — something  like 
Sievers's  Five  Type  Theory  of  Old  English  verse. 

The  fruit  of  such  study  will  depend  very  largely  upon 
the  enthusiasm  and  good  sense  of  the  teacher.  If  he  can 
make  his  students  realize  that  English  verse  is  not  a  mere 
formal  procession  of  syllables,  but  an  exceedingly  deli- 
cate and  subtle  turning  of  the  common  elements  of  our 
everyday  thinking  modes  to  the  finer  uses  of  Art  by  fusing 
with  them  beautiful  proportions  of  form  and  feeling — ^if 
he  sets  out  to  do  this  with  intelligence  and  discernment 
he  will  find,  I  think,  in  the  following  laws,  complicated 
as  they  may  at  first  sight  appear,  a  practical  means  of 
associating  the  forms  of  poetry  with  normal  thinking  pro- 
cesses. 

As  these  laws  are  here  stated  for  the  first  time  I  shall  be  glad 
to  receive  from  the  teachers  who  use  them  any  suggestions  look- 
ing to  the  improvment  of  their  phrasing  or  any  notes  of  verses 
from  classic  English  poetry  which  they  do  not  seem  to  cover. 

Purdue  University,  MARK  II.  LIDDELL. 

February,  1914. 


**0!  the  one  life,  within  us  and  abroad. 
Which  meets  all  motion,  and  becomes  its  soul. 

Rhythm  in  all  thought,  and  joyance  everywhere." 

—Coleridge,  The  Aeolian  Harp. 


PRELIMINARY  DEFINITIONS. 

Stress  in  language  may  be  roughly  defined  as  a  strain 
of  the  attention  produced  by  certain  units  in  a  continu- 
ous series  of  syllables  which  taken  together  form  a  real- 
ized meaning.  The  syllable-series  may  form  a  single  word 
and  the  realized  meaning  be  a  single  concept;  or  it  may 
form  a  group  of  words  and  the  realized  meaning  be  a 
concept  series.  In  the  former  case  we  have  Word-Stress, 
in  the  latter  Sense-Stress.  When  the  word  is  spoken 
word-stress  produces  Accent:  we  have  no  name  for  the 
effect  of  sense-stress  upon  spoken  English.  When  the 
sense-stress  of  a  word  is  raised  above  its  normal  level  we 
call  the  effect  Emphasis.* 

When  sense-stress  is  given  to  the  syllables  of  a  poly- 
syllabic word  which  already  has  word-stress  the  sense- 
stress  of  the  whole  word  is  given  to  its  separate  syllables 
in  proportion  to  their  word-stress. 

There  are  six  recognizable  grades  of  sense-stress  in 
English.  They  may  be  arranged  as  an  ascending  scale. 
The  lowest  point  of  this  scale  is  the  word-stress  neces- 
sary to  preserve  the  sonant  element  of  a  syllable  in 
the  form  of  the  obscure  vowel  which  we  have  in  the  last 
syllable  of  "father,"  or  in  the  article  "a."  The  highest 
point  is  the  stress  given  to  the  most  important  notion  in 
a  continuous  word  series  forming  a  predication. 

♦Emphasis  does  not  often  appear  In  English  verse. 


8  PRELIMINARY  DEFINITIONS 

Thc'sclal'a-Hised'in'the^foildwhig  treatise  is  as  follows: — 

High  Primary   f  ' 

Low  Primary   e  ^ 

High  Secondary  d  " 

Low  Secondary  c  ^"^ 

Light   Stress  b 

Low    Stress    a  * 

The  difference  between  the  low  grades  and  the  high 
grades  of  this  scale  is  always  clearly  evident  to  the  ear; 
but  when  high  grades  follow  one  another  the  heard  dif- 
ference between  them  is  very  slight*;  it  is  a  difference  that 
is  felt  rather  than  heard.    A  verse  like 

When  I  do  count  the  clock  that  tells  the  time 
gives  a  very  distinct  rhythm  to  the  ear;  while  one  like 

And  with  old  woes  new  wail  my  dear  time's  waste 
gives  a  rhythm  that  is  not  distinct  to  the  ear  and  only 
becomes    definite   when   we    realize    the   meaning   of    the 
words  and  their  relations  to  one  another. 

The  student  will  do  well,  therefore,  to  make  himself 
feel  these  differences  before  he  attempts  to  hear  them. 

When  the  sense-stress  of  a  series  of  words  which 
make  meaning  is  so  regulated  that  the  successive  syllables 
are  alternately  stronger  or  weaker  they  produce  the  feel- 
ing of  Rhythm  in  a  anind  which  realizes  the  meaning. 

Rhythm  series  may  be  of  two  types.  A  Rising 
Rhythm  series  is  one  in  which  the  even-numbered  im- 
pressions are  stronger  than  the  odd-numbered  impressions 

(R). 

A  Falling  Rhythm  series  is  one  in  which  the  even- 
numbered  impressions  are  weaker  than  the  odd-numbered 
impressions  (F), 


♦This  follows  from  a  principle  of  modern  psychology  known 
as  "Weber's  Law." 


PRELIMINARY  DEFINITIONS  9 

The  weak  impressions  of  either  series  may  be  doubled, 
giving  Double  Rising  Rhythm  (rR),  and  Double  Falling 
Rhythm  (Ff).  In  either  series  some  of  the  impressions 
may  be  doubled,  others  not,  giving  Mixed  Rising  Rhythm 
(MR),  or  Mixed  Falling  Rhythm  (MF). 

Rhythm  in  poetry  may  be  noted  by  using  close-spaced 
letters  to  mark  the  stress-grades  of  the  syllables,  the  high 
points  of  the  stress-waves  being  indicated  by  capitals.*  e.  g. 

the  wrackful  selge  of  battering  days  aEbFaEbF   (R) 

'Tis  not  what  man  does  which  exalts  him        cEdeFcbFc  (MB) 

A  Verse  is  a  series  of  syllables  making  meaning,  or 
the  sum  of  several  such  series,  whose  successive  rhythm- 
waves  form  a  distinct  recurring  pattern.  The  unit  of  the 
pattern-design  is  the  Rhythm- wave;  it  corresponds  to  the 
"foot"  in  metrical  prosody,  to  the  "bar"  in  music.  When 
two  or  more  series  of  syllables  form  a  verse,  the  division 
between  each  pair  is  called  the  Caesura  (or  caesural 
pause).  It  may  be  marked  in  scansion  by  |  for  a  light 
caesura  and  ||  for  a  heavy  one.  When  letters  are  used  for 
noting  the  rhythm  the  caesura  may  be  noted  by  a  space. 

Poets  often  carry  a  series  over  the  end  of  the  verse;  e.  g. 
Of  that  forbidden  tree  whose  mortal  taste  bFbEaFdEaF- 

Brought  death  into  the  world  |,  and  all  our  woe 

eFbCaFcFeF 
*        •        *        * 

Sing,  Heavenly  Muse  |I,  etc.  FebB 

These  are  called  Run-on  Verses. 

Verses  are  usually  marked  as  units  of  design  by 
Rhyme.      Rhyme  is  the  identity  of    the  sonant  elements 


♦This  system  is  used  in  the  following  pages:  the  system  of 
scansion  by  stress-marks  as  given  above  is  better  adapted  for 
class-room  use. 


lo  PRELIMINARY  DEFINITIONS 

and  all  following  sounds  in  the  last  stressed  syllables  of 
successive  verse-units.  Modern  poets  often  use  rhymes 
based  upon  identities  of  pronunciation  that  are  now  ob- 
solete in  the  spoken  language,  but  are  still  preserved  in 
the  spelling  of  the  written  language;  e.  g.  loves  :  moves 
(Spelling  Rhymes).  Rhymes  are  usually  indicated  by  like 
letters  of  the  alphabet;  e.  g.  aa,  bb,  cc. 

Stanzas  (or  Strophes)  are  fixed  design-patterns  made 
up  of  verse-units.  A  Couplet  is  a  stanza  of  two  rhymed 
verse-units;  a  Terzain  of  three  verse-units;  a  Quatrain  of 
four  verse-units.  Two  other  stanzas  have  special  names: 
Rime  Royal  (5R  ^ababbcc)^  and  the  Spenserian  stanza 
(5R  sababbcbc  _|_  6Ric).  Stanza  systems  may  be  indi- 
cated by  a  numeral  representing  the  number  of  waves,  fol- 
lowed by  the  Rhythm  symbol  with  an  exponent  represent- 
ing the  number  of  lines,  and  letters  representing  the 
rhyme  arrangement.  The  Modern  Sonnet,  for  instance, 
has  the  formula  5R  Sabbaabba  _j_  5R  6cdecde;  the  In  Memor- 
iam  stanza  5R  4abba;  the  Abt  Vogler  stanza  6MR  Sababcdcd. 


I 

THE  LAWS  OF  SENSE  STRESS. 


NOUNS 

Nouns  have  primary  stress.  Any  normally  unstres3ed 
or  lightly  stressed  word  will  take  primary  stress  when  used 
as  a  noun. 

English  verse-form  clearly  shows  certain  definite  varia- 
tions of  these  primary  stress  values  associated  with  nouns 
as  they  are  used  for  subjects,  objects,  complements  or 
limiting  notions.  The  laws  of  this  variation  after  having 
been  definitely  determined  from  the  study  cf  poetry,  will 
be  found  to  hold  also  for  prose  forms  of  thinking.  So,  {oo, 
with  most  of  the  laws  which  follow;  though  determined 
from  English  poetry,  they  will  be  found  to  hold  true  for 
natural  and  idiomatic  English  prose  also. 

1.    The  Noun  as  Subject. 

The  normal  stress  of  an  English  subject  is  low  pri- 
mary (e).  Both  subject  and  predicate  are  primarily 
stressed  notions.  But  the  subject  normally  has  slightly 
less  stress  than  a  following  predicate  when  the  predicate 
forms  a  part  of  the  same  series.  This  is  shown  by  the 
fact  that  when  each  is  represented  by  a  monosyllable 
English  poets  place  the  subject  where  the  verse  demands 
the  weaker  impulse,  giving  the  rhythm  series  eF. 

Nigrht  passed,  day  shone  eF     eF 

Browning,   The  Boy  and  the  Angel. 
And  while  day  sank,  or  mantled  higher  cDeF    cEaF 

Tennyson,  Palace  of  Art. 
Winds  blow  and  waters  roll  eF    bEaF 

Strength  to  the  brave 

Wordsworth,  September,  1802. 
Where'er  my  path  lies,  be  it  gloomy  or  bright 

Moore,  Farewell.  [dEdeF  deFbbF 

Cries,  "Hark,  the  foes  come"  eFaeF 

Dryden,  St.  Cecilia's  Day. 
At  lover's  perjuries 
They  say  Jove  laughs  dFeF 

Shakspere,  Rom.  &  Jul.  II,  ii.  92. 

When  the  predicate  is  not  in  the  same  series  the  sub- 
ject has  high  primary  stress  (f). 


12  LAWS  OF  NOUN  STRESS  §2 

Meantime  their  wick    swims  in  the  safe  broad  bowl* 
Browning,   The  Ring  and  the  Book. 

2.  Subject  after  Predicate. 

When  the  subject  follows  the  predicate  in  the  same 
scries  the  subject  has  high  primary  stress  (0  and  the 
predicate  low  primary  stress  (e).  This  word  order  is  not 
common  in  prose. 

For  at  her  silver  voice  came  Deatli  and  Life      DccEaF  eFbF 

Shelley,  Epipsychidion. 
Within  the  hall        *        ♦        * 
L.ies  Duncan  on  his  lowly  bier  eFaCcBbF 

Scott,  Lady  of  the  Lake,  XV. 
That  night  came  Artliur  home 

Tennyson,  The  Last  Tournament. 
Irks  care  the  cropfull  bird,  frets  doubt  the   cFaEdF  eFaEdF 
maw  crammed  beast? 

Browning,  Rabbi  ben  Ezra. 

3.  Rhythm-stressed  Subject. 

When  a  monosyllabic  predicate  is  immediately  fol- 
lowed by  a  high  primary  stress  (f)  a  preceding  monosyl- 
labic subject  in  the  same  series  takes  high  primsiy 
stress  (f). 

The  sun  came  up  upon  the  left  aFeF  bDaF 

Coleridge,  Ancient  Mariner. 
And  the  earth  grow  young  again  Db  FeFaF 

Shelley,  Euganean  Hills. 
And  love  taught  grief  to  fall  like  music  from 

his  tongue  [cFeF  aFeFbCeF 

Shelley,  Adonais. 
Nor  soul  helps  flesh  more  now  than  flesh  helps  soul 
Browning,   Rabbi  Ben  Ezra. 

4.  The  Noun  as  Object. 

The  noun  as  object  has  high  primary  stress  (f),  the 
preceding  verb  low  primary  stress  (e). 

I  strove,  made  head,  gained  ground  upon  the  whole 

Browning,  Rabbi  Ben  Ezra. 
The  swarthy  smith  took  dirk  and  brand  aEbF  eFbF 

Scott,  Lady  of  the  Lake,  XIV. 
And  all  the  spangled  host  keep  watch  in  squadrons  bright 
Milton,  Ode  on  the  Nativity. 

5.  The  Double  Object. 

The  indirect  object  has  less  stress  than  the  direct. 


♦In  English  versification  the  first  wave  of  a  single  rising 
series  may  be  reversed  at  the  will  of  the  poet  (see  my  Introduc- 
tion to  the  Scientific  Study  of  English  Poetry,  p.  263).  The 
rhythm  of  this  verse  of  Browning  is  EdcF    FaaFeF. 


§8  LAWS  OF  NOUN  STRESS  13 

He  gave  man  speech  and  speech  created  thought 

Shelley,  Prometheus,  II.4.72. 
Leave  the  fire  ashes,  what  survives  is  gold        EaeFa  EbFbF 

Browning,  Rabbi  ben  Ezra. 

Similarly,  when  double  objects  follow  verbs  like  call, 
name,  make,  teach,  etc.,  the  second  object  has  the  higher 
stress. 

Thou  teachest  how  to  make  one  twain 

Shakspere,  Sonnet  XXXIX. 
And  thy  smiles  before  they  dwindle  DcFbDcFa 

Make  the  cold  air  fire  EaFeF 

Sb-elley,   Prometheus,   II.   v. 

6.  Predicate  Nouns. 

The  predicate  complement  has  high  primary  stress  (f). 

The  worldly  hope  men  set  their  hearts  upon 
Turns  ashes 

Fitzgerald,   Omar  Khayyam,   XVI. 

This  stress  is  higher  than  that  of  the  subject;  for  when 
the  predicate  is  contracted  or  lost  the  predicate  noun  takes 
the  higher  stress  of  the  two: 

All's  love,  yet  all's  law  eF  deF 

Browning,  Saul  XVII. 
Beauty  is  Truth,  Truth  Beauty  BbbF  eFb 

X^eats,  Ode  on  a  Grecian  Urn. 

7.  Nouns  of  Address. 

Nouns  in  the  vocative  case  have  low  primary  stress  (e). 

Fool,  all  that  is  at  all  e  FbFbF 

Lasts  ever,  past  recall 

Browning,  Rabbi  ben  Ezra. 
The   sophist  sneers.  Fool,  take 
Thy  pleasure,  right  or  wrong 

Arnold,  Empedocles  on  Etna. 
Then  sleep,  dear,  sleep 

Beddoes,  Devil's  Jest  Book. 

8.  Prepositive  Descriptive  Nouns. 

A  noun  used  like  a  prepositive  adjective  to  qualify 
another  noun  is  treated  like  an  adjective  and  has  low  pri- 
mary stress,  giving  the  series  eF. 

A  low  sea  sunset  glorying  round  her  hair 

Tennyson,  The  Last  Tournament. 

If  such  a  combination  becomes  habitual  it  yields  a 
compound  word  with  primary  stress  on  the  first  part;  e.  g. 
"hill-side,"  "sea-shore." 


14  LAWS  OF  NOUN  STRESS  §9 

9.  Possessive  case  forms  and  titles  obey  law  8.  When 
they  occur  in  adjective  series  they  are  subject  to  rhythm- 
stress;  cp.  §15. 

Therefore  I  summon  age 
To  grant  youth's  heritage 

Browning,  Rabbi  ben  Ezra. 
The  soul  that  rises  with  us,  our  life's  star,         aEbEaFc  FeF 
Has  had  elsewhere  its  setting 

Wordsworth,  Ode  on  Intimations  of  Immortality. 
A  shout  that  tore  Hell's  concave 

Milton,  Paradise  Lost,  I. 
And  nothing  'gainst  Time's  scythe  can  make  defence 

Shakspere,   Sonnet  XIV. 
Then  spake  King  Arthur  to  Sir  Bedivere 

Tennyson,  Morte  D'Arthur. 
King  Charles,  and  who's  for  the  right  now  eF  aEbaFd 

Browning,  Cavalier  Tunes. 

10.  Proper  Names. 

In  a  series  of  person  names,  the  last  name  has  high 
primary  stress  (f)  and  the  Christian  name  low  primary  (e). 
With  three  names  rhythm-stress  appears. 

When  I  should  be  dead  of  joy,  James  Liee  cEbbEaF  eF 

Browning,  James  Lee's  Wife. 
Thus  into  detail  George  Bubb  Dodington 

Browning,  Parleyings  with  Certain  People. 

11.  Apposition. 

When  Appositive  nouns  are  included  in  the  same 
series  with  the  nouns  they  explain  they  have  a  high  pri- 
mary stress  (£). 

When  that  churl.  Death,  my  bones  with  dust  shall  cover 
Shakspere,   Sonnet  XXXII. 

12.  Limiting  Nouns. 

The  limiting  noun  of  a  phrase  forming  a  series  with  the 
noun  it  limits  has  a  higrher  stress  than  that  noun.     It  is 

not  possible  to  prove  this  stress  relation  from  poetry,  be- 
cause an  unstressed  preposition  invariably  coones  between 
the  two  nouns.  But  the  stress  of  the  second  noun  can  be 
felt  to  be  the  stronger  by  one  having  a  delicate  rhythm 
sense. 

To  pangs  of  nature,  sins  of  will,  bEaFb  EaF 

Defects  of  doubt,  and  taints  of  blood 

Tennyson,   In  Memoriam,   IV. 
A  Book  of  Verses  underneath  the  Bough,  aEaFa  CaDaF 

A  Jug  of  Wine,  a  L.oaf  of  Broad — and  Thou 
Beside  me  singing  in  the  wilderness 

Fitzgerald,   Omar  Khayyam. 


ADJECTIVES 

The  Adjective  is  normally  a  primarily  stressed  notion, 
and  falls  in  the  same  group  with  Nouns,  Verbs  and  No- 
tion adverbs.  Its  stress  may  be  either  high  or^  low 
primary  (c  or  f),  and  is  largely  determined  by  its  position. 
Its  usual  position  in  English  is  before  its  noun,  though  in 
some  cases  it  follows. 

13.  The  Prepositive  Adjective. 

When  the  adjective  precedes  its  noun  it  has  low  pri- 
mary stress,  giving  the  series  eF. 

Deep  pools,  tall  trees,  black  chasms,  and  dizzy  cragrs 

Wordsworth,  The  Recluse,  p.  343. 
Learned  his  great  language,  caught  its  clear  accents 

Browning,  The  Lost  Leader. 
Wandering  between  two  worlds,  one  dead  FbcDeF  eF 

The  other  powerless  to  be  born 

Matthew  Arnold,  The  Grande  Chartreuse. 
One  God,  one  law,  one  element 

Tennyson,  Epilogue  to  In  Memoriam. 
Left  the  warm  precincts  of  the  cheerful  day 

Gray,  Elegy. 
Where  the  great  sun  begins  his  state 

Milton,   L'  Allegro. 

14.  Rhythm  stress  of  Successive  Prepositive  Adjectives. 
When  several  monosyllabic  adjectives  precede  a  noun 

accented  on  the  first  syllable  they  are  rhythmically  differ- 
entiated in  alternating  high  and  low  primary  stresses.  This 
rhythmic  differentiation  is  common  in  prose,  but  as  a  rule 
does  not  apply  to  pronominal  adjectives  and  does  not  ex- 
tend to  more  than  two  adjectives,  e.  g.  "grand  old  man," 
"still  small  voice,"  etc.  In  poetry  the  law  applies  to  all 
the  adjectives  in  a  series  and  includes  pronominal  adjec- 
tives. 

Almost  upon  the  western  wave  EdaCaEaF 

Rested  the  broad,  bright  sun  EaaFeF 

Coleridge,  Ancient  Mariner. 
Or  flattery  soothe  the  dull,  cold  ear  of  Death 

Gray,  Elegy. 
Sunset  and  evening  star 
And  one  clear  call  for  me 

Tennyson,  Crossing  the  Bar. 
So  each  good  ship  was  rude  to  see 

Browning,  Paracelsus  IV. 
What  love  of  thine  own  kind?    What  ignorance  of  pain 
Shelley,  Skylark. 


i6  LAWS  OF  ADJECTIVE  STRESS         §14 

Where  palsy  shakes  a  few  sad  last  gray  hairs 

Keats,  Ode  to  a  Nightingale. 
And  that  sweet  city  with  her  dreaming  spires 
Matthew  Arnold,  Thyrsis. 

15.  Possessive  case  forms  are  treated  like  adjectives  in 
these  series. 

From  the  contagion  of  the  world's  slow  stain    BabEaBaFeF 

Shelley,  Adonais. 
But  all  the  world's  coarse  thumb 
And  finger  failed  to  plumb 

Browning,  Rabbi  ben  Ezra. 
In  the  Spring  a  young  man's  fancy  lightly  turns 

to  thoughts  of  love  CaFaFeFb  EbFbEaF 

Tennyson,  Locksley  Hall. 
On  that  best  portion  of  a  good  man's  life 
His  little,  nameless,  unremembered  acts 
Of  kindness  and  of  love 

Wordsworth,  Tintern  Abbey. 

16.  Successive  monosyllabic  adjectives  are  likewise 
rhythmically  differentiated  before  a  polysyllabic  adjective 
beginning  with  a  stressed  syllable;  a  single  monosyllabic 
adjective  in  such  a  position  usually  has  low  primary  stress 
(e),  the  polysyllabic  adjective  having  high  primary  (f). 

Where  bitumen  lakes 
On  black,  bare*  pointed  islets  ever  beat 

Shelley,  Alastor. 
The  first,  fine,  careless  rapture 

Browning,  Home  Thoughts. 
Ah,  when  will  this  long  weary  day  have  end         eFbFeFbFaF 

Spenser,  Epithalamium. 
With  a  soft  inland  murmur 

Wordsworth,  Tintern  Abbey. 

17.  If  a  noun  which  follows  the  adjective  has  low  pri- 
mary stress  (e),  as  when  the  subject  is  included  in  the 
same  series  with  the  predicate  (cp.  §1),  or  is  followed  by 
an  adjective  (cp.  §18),  the  preceding  adjective  takes  a  high 
primary  stress  (f). 

And  let  the  young  lambs  bound  cEaFeF 

Wordsworth,  Ode  on  Intimations  of  Immortality. 
And  cold  hopes  swarm  like  worms  within  our  living  clay 

Shelley,  Adonais. 
Her  dark  locks  floating:  in  the  breath  of  night 

Shelley,  Alastor. 
And  see  the  brave  day  sunk  in  hideous  night 

Shakspere,  Sonnet  XII. 


§2o         LAWS  OF  ADJECTIVE  STRESS  17 

If,  however,  the  three  primarily  stressed  notions  are 
not  in  the  same  series  the  stress  of  the  adjective  is  normal. 

Like  a  dead  friend  safe  from  unkindness  more     EaeF  FaaEbF 

Browning,  Paracelsus,  III. 
When  the  first  moan  broke  from  the  martyr  maid 

Browning,  The  Ring  and  the  Book. 

18.  Postpositive  Adjective. 

When  the  adjective  follows  its  noun  the  adjective  has 
higher  stress  than  the  noun,  giving  the  series  eF. 

All  spirits  are  enslaved  which  serve  thingrs  evil 

Shelley,  Prometheus. 
Sliapes  fairer  or  less  doubtfully  discerned  eFa  CeFaBcF 

Wordsworth,  Prelude  IV. 
Care,  mad  to  see  a  man  sae  happy, 
E'en  drown'd  himsel  amang  the  nappy 

Burns,  Tam  O'  Shanter. 
Hours  dreadful  and  thinsrs  strangre 

Shakspere,  Macb.  II.  iv.  3. 
To  do  aug:ht  good  never  will  be  our  task 

Milton,  Paradise  Lost,  I. 
The  common  fate  of  all  thinsrs  rare 

Waller,  Go  Lovely  Rose. 
With  throats  unslaked,  with  black  lips  baked 

Coleridge,  Ancient  Mariner. 

19.  Predicate  Adjectives. 

An  adjective  completing  a  predicate  has  high  primary 
stress,  forming  with  it  the  series  eF. 

Where  youth  grows  pale  and  spectre-thin  and  dies 

Keats,  Ode  to  a  Nightingale. 
What  shelter  to  g:row  ripe  is  ours, 
What  leisure  to  grow  wise 

Matthew  Arnold,  Obermann. 
Grow  old  along  with  me 

Browning,  Rabbi  ben  Ezra. 
Bine  ran  the  flash  across  FeaFaF 

Violets  were  born 

Browning,  Two  Poets  of  Croisic. 
Pale  grew  thy  cheek  and  cold 

Byron,  When  We  Two  Parted. 

20.  When  the  adjective  or  participle,  though  qualifying 
the  subject,  follows  the  verb  in  the  same  series,  it  is 
stressed  like  a  predicate  adjective. 

And  in  a  circle,  hand  in  hand, 

Sat  silent,  looking  each  at  each  eFa  FcFcF 

Tennyson,  In  Memoriam,  XXX. 


i8  LAWS  OF  ADJECTIVE  STRESS         §20 

The  sea  lay  laughing:  at  a  distance 

Wordsworth,  Prelude. 
Where  hope  clung:  feeding:  like  a  bee 

Coleridge,  Youth  and  Age. 
Dove-like  satst  brooding:  on  the  vast  abyss 

Milton,  Paradise  Lost  I. 

21.  Words  used  as  Adjectives. 

Participles  and  all  words  or  groups  of  words  used  as 
adjectives  (except  Pronominal  Adjectives,  cp.  §34)  take 
adjective  stress. 

Crown'd  warrant  had  we  for  that  crowning  sin 

Tennyson,   The   Last   Tournament. 
Faint  as  shed  flowers  the  attenuated  dream 

Rossetti,  Severed  Selves. 
I  was  ever  a  fighter,  so  one  flg:ht  more  dcFaaFa  eFeF 

Browning,  Prospice. 
Vague  words!  but  ah,  how  hard  to  frame 
In  matter-moulded  forms  of  speech  cEaDaFaF 

Tennyson,  In  Memoriam,  XCV. 

22.  Adjectives  used  as  nouns. 

When  adjectives  are  used  substantively  they  take  the 
stress  of  nouns. 

To  Him  no  hig:h,  no  low,  no  great,  no  small 

Pope,  Essay  on  Man. 
Let  Fate  do  her  worst,  there  are  relics  of  joy 
Moore,  Farewell. 


PRONOUNS 

The  normal  stress  of  pronominal  words  in  English  is 
secondary.  This  secondary  stress  is  sometimes  high  (d), 
sometimes  low  (c).  The  personal  pronouns  are  more  sub- 
ject to  variation  than  relative  or  adjective  forms,  and  are 
in  consequence  more  difficult  to  classify.  It  must  be  un- 
derstood, therefore,  that  the  stress  laws  stated  below  hold 
only  for  normal  conditions;  contrast,  emotional  signifi- 
cance, or  often  mere  rhythm  will  shift  these  values,  sup- 
pressing a  high  secondary  stress  to  the  lower  grade,  or 
lifting  a  low  secondary  to  the  higher  grade. 

23.    Personal  Pronouns  as  Subjects. 

Personal  pronouns  used  as  subjects  normally  have 
high  secondary  stress  (d). 


§25  LAWS  OF  PRONOUN  STRESS  19 

I  wandered  lonely  as  a  cloud  dFa  FbDaF 

That  floats  on  high  o'er  vales  and  hills 

Wordsworth,  I  Wandered  Lonely  as  a  Cloud. 
He  lives,  he  wakes — 'tis  Death  is  dead,  not  he 

Shelley,  Adonais,  XLI. 

But  this  stress  often  falls  to  low  secondary  (c)  when  the 
pronoun  is  unemphatic  and  the  verb  significant. 

24.  The  indefinite  "it"  as  subject  usually  has  low  sec- 
ondary stress  (c),  or  light  stress  (b). 

It  is  not  now  as  it  hath  been  of  yore  cEdP  CbaEaP 

Wordsworth,  Ode  on  Intimations  of  Immortality. 

When  this  indefinite  it  is  followed  by  the  low  stressed 
is  the  two  words  are  often  contracted  in  prose  to  it's.  In 
poetry  this  contraction  may  take  the  form  *tis,  the  stress 
of  it  being  subordinated. 

*Tis  better  to  have  loved  and  lost 
Than  never  to  have  loved  at  all 

Tennyson,  In  Memoriam,  XXVII. 
'Tis  not  what  man  does  which  exalts  him,  but  what  man 
would  do 

Browning,   Saul. 
No — 'tis  ungainly  work,  the  ruling  men,  at  best! 

Browning,  Fifine  at  the  Fair. 

25.  When  the  pronoun  subject  follows  the  verb  it  still 
retains  its  secondary  stress  unless  emphasized  by  some 
distinction  of  personality. 

So  spake  they  idly  of  another  state  dEdFb  CaEaF 

Babbling  vain  words  and  fond  philosophy 

Shelley,  Prince  Anathase. 
Watch  thou  and  fear,  to-morrow  thou  shalt  die 

Rossetti,  The  Choice. 
How  know  I  what  had  need  of  thee? 

Tennyson,  In  Memoriam,  LXXIII. 

After  quotations,  the  verb  of  saying  or  thinking  often 
has  light  stress  (b);  thus  "said  he"  (bD),  "says  he"  (bD), 
are  common  stress  forms  of  English  prose  and  sometimes 
appear  in  poetry. 

Now  tell  me  where  is  Madeline,  said  he  eFdEcFaD  bD 

Keats,  Eve  of  St.  Agnes. 
Say  ctuiclj,  quoth  he,  I  bid  thee  say 

Coleridge,  Ancient  Mariner. 


20  LAWS  OF  PRONOUN  STRESS  §26 

26.  Predicate  Pronoun. 

A  pronoun  used  as  a  predicate  complement  in  a  de- 
clarative sentence  takes  primary  stress  (f).  In  interroga- 
tive sentences  the  copula  or  auxiliary  takes  primary  stress. 

For  is  he  not  all  but  thou,  that  hast  power  to 

feel  I  am  I  cEdcEbF  beFaaFebF 

Tennyson,  The  Higher  Pantheism. 
While  I  am  I  and  you  are  you 

Browning,  In  a  Gondola. 

27.  Personal  Pronoun  as  Object. 

The  personal  pronoun  as  object  normally  has  low  sec- 
ondary stress  (c). 

They  out-talked  thee,  hissed  thee,  tore  thee  EdFc  Fe  Fc 

Matthew  Arnold,  The  Last  Word. 

They  called  me  fool,  they  called  me  child 
Tennyson,  In  Memoriam,  LXIX. 

I  charsre  thee,  when  thou  wake  the  multitude 

Thou  lead  them  not  upon  the  paths  of  blood 
Shelley  Oedipus  Tyrannus. 

28.  The  personal  pronoun  as  indirect  object  likewise  has 
low  secondary  stress  (c). 

To  lend  thee  horse  and  shield 

Tennyson,   Gareth  and   Lynette. 
I  shall  never  in  the  years  remaining  BaBa  DaEbFb 

Paint  you  pictures,  no,  nor  carve  you  statues 

Browning,  One  Word  More. 

29.  Pronouns  after  Prepositions. 

The  personal  pronoun  as  object  of  a  preposition  usual- 
ly has  high  secondary  stress  (d). 

The  thought  of  our  past  years  in  me  doth  breed 
Perpetual  benediction 

Wordsworth,  Ode  on  Intimations  of  Immortality. 
Shrine  of  the  mighty,  can  it  be 
That  this  is  all  remains  of  thee? 

Byron,  The  Glory  that  was  Greece. 

But  see  §61. 

30.  When  the  personal  pronoun  is  followed  by  an  ad- 
jective it  has  high  secondary  stress  (d). 

Pure  livers  were  they  all,  austere  and  grave     eFaDdF  dFaF 

Wordsworth,  Excursion. 
So  find  I  every  pleasant  spot 
In  which  we  two  were  wont  to  meet 

Tennyson,  In  Memoriam,  VIII. 


§33 


LAWS  OF  PRONOUN  STRESS  21 


But  when  a  high  primary  stress  follows,  the  series  be- 
comes rhythmic. 

When  we  two  parted 

In  silence  and  tears 

Byron,  When  We  Two  Parted. 
When  shall  we  three  meet  again 

Shakspere,  Macbeth  I.  1.   1. 

31.  The  Relative  Pronoun. 

Relative  pronouns  normally  have  high  secondary 
stress  (d).  Interrogative  Relatives  have  primary  stress 
(e  or  f). 

Low  he  lies  who  once  so  loved  you,  whom  you  loved  so 

Browning,  Epilogue  to  Asolando. 
He  gave  man  speech,  and  speech  created  thought, 
Which  is  the  measure  of  the  universe  DcaEbCaFaC 

Shelley,  Prometheus  Unbound,  II. 

32.  The  Restrictive  Relative. 

The  restrictive  relative  pronoun,  however,  usually  has 
low  secondary  stress  (c).  The  relative  that,  which  is  al- 
ways used  restrictively  in  short  relative  clauses,  has  less 
stress  than  who  or  which  and  is  often  light  stressed  (b). 

The  charm  which  Homer,  Shakspere  teach 

Matthew  Arnold,  Epilogue  to  Lessing's  Laocoon. 
Dragons  of  the  prime 
That  tare  each  other  in  their  slime  bEeFaDdF 

Were  mellow  music  match'd  with  him 

Tennyson,  In  Memoriam,  LVI. 

33.  The  Possessive  Adjective  Pronoun. 

The  possessive  adjectives  my,  thy,  our,  normally  have 
a  high  secondary  stress  (d) ;  your  and  their  vary  between 
high  and  low  secondary.  The  third  person  pronouns  his, 
her,  its,  usually  have  low  secondary  stress  (c). 

They  look  up  with  their  pale  and  sunken  faces 

And  their  looks  are  sad  to  see  DcF  cEaF 

Mrs.  Browning,  Cry  of  the  Children. 
My  Poet,  thou  canst  touch  on  all  the  notes 
God  set  between  His  After  and  Before 

Mrs.  Browning,  Sonnets  from  the  Portugese. 
The  loveliest  and  the  best 
That  from  his  vintage  rolling  Time  has  pressed 

Fitzgerald,  Omar  Khayyam,  XXII. 

Forerun  thy  peers,  thy  time  and  let 
Thy  feet  milleniums  hence  be  set 
In  midst  of  knowledge  dream'd  not  yet 
Tennyson,  Two  Voices. 


22  LAIVS  OF  PRONOUN  STRESS  §34 

34.  Pronominal  Adjectives. 

Pronominal  Adjectives,  the  possessive  whose,  the  at- 
tributively used  which  and  what,  and  the  demonstratives 
this,  that,  these  and  those,  normally  have  high  secondary 
stress  (d). 

Each  sufferer  says  his  say,  his  scheme  of  the  weal 

and  woe  dEaaEcF  cBbaFaF 

Browning,  Abt  Vogler. 
Then  felt  1  like  some  watcher  of  the  skies 

Keats,  On  First  Looking  Into  Chapman's  Homer. 
Gleams  that  untravell'd  world  whose  margin  fades 

Tennyson,  Ulysses. 
Which  rose  make  ours 
Which  lily  leave  and  then  as  best  recall 

Browning,  Rabbi  ben  Ezra. 

35.  The  Articles. 

The  definite  article  the  (originally  a  demonstrative 
pronoun)  and  the  indefinite  article  a,  an  (originally  the 
numeral  adjective  "one")  are  unstressed  impulses  in  Eng- 
lish (a). 

One  adequate  support 
For  the  calamities  of  mortal  life  CaaFaB  aBaF 

Exists — one  only;  an  assured  belief 
That  the  procession  of  our  fate,  howe'er 
Sad  or  disturbed,  is  ordered  by  a  Being  FbcF  cFaDaFc 

Of  infinite  benevolence  and  power 
Wordsworth,  Excursion. 

Before  words  beginning  with  a  vowel  the  usually 
takes  a  light  stress  (b),  giving  its  vowel  tlie  sound  "i" 
instead  of  the  obscure  sound  it  has  when  followed  by  a 
consonant. 

The  earth  and  every  common  sight 

Wordsworth,  Intimations  of  Immortality. 

By  the  island  in  the  river  DbFa  CaFa 

Tennyson,  The  Lady  of  Shallot. 

In  poetry  the  vowel  of  the  is  frequently  elided  before 
a  word  beginning  with  a  vowel  even  when  not  so  printed. 


VERBS 

Verbs  normally  require  primary  stress.  The  stress  of 
verbs  when  they  appear  in  the  same  series  with  nouns'  or 
completing  adjectives  has  already  been  implied  in  preced- 
ing sections,  whose  illustrations  will  serve  here. 

36.    The  verb  has  high  primary  stress  (f)  when  it  is  in 
itself  a  complete  predicate.    In  such  cases  it  usually  stands 
in  the  same  series  with  the  subject. 
For  illustrations  see  §1. 

Z7.    Predicate  Before  Subject. 

When  the  predicate  precedes  the  subject  in  the  same 
series  it  has  low  primary  stress  (e).  For  illustrations 
see  §2. 

In  verse  the  stress  of  the  verb  is  subordinated  to  that 
of  a  following  adjective  stressed  on  the  first  syllable. 

This  truth  fand  honest  Tarn  O'Shanter 
Burns,  Tarn  O'Shanter. 

Deep  in  the  shady  sadness  of  a  vale 

«  *  «  *  « 

Sat  gray-eyed  Saturn,  quiet  as  a  stone  eFdFa  BbCaF 

Keats,  Hyperion. 

38.  Predicate  and  Object  or  Complement. 

When  the  predicate  is  completed  by  an  object,  predi- 
cate noun,  or  adjective,  it  has  low  primary  stress  (e).    For 

illustrations  see  §§4,  6. 

This  principal  holds  whether  the  subject  falls  in  the 
same  series  with  the  predicate  or  not. 

39.  Complementary  Infinitive. 

When  a  verb  is  followed  by  a  completing  infinitive  the 
verb  has  low  primary  stress  (e)  and  the  infinitive  high  pri- 
mary (f). 

And  dare  doubt  he  alone  shall  not  help  him 

who  yet  alone  can  ceFdaFcbFe  aBaeF 

Browning,  Saul  XVII. 
Ijet  be  thy  wail  and  help  thy  fellow  men 

Tennyson,  The  Ancient  Sage. 

When  an  object  intervenes  the  first  verb  takes  a 
rhythm  stress. 

And  made  Hell  grant  what  Love  did  seek 
Milton,   II  Penseroso. 


AUXILIARY  VERBS. 

The  verbs  may,  might,  must,  can,  could,  will,  would, 
shall,  should,  and  have,  had,  are  commonly  used  in  Eng- 
lish without  notion  value  to  express  various  categories  of 
activity  in  time  •  or  mode,  and  are  thus  termed  auxiliary 
verbs.  As  they  are  practically  relation  words  when  so 
used,  and  lose  their  notion  value,  their  stress  is  weakened. 

With  the  exception  of  may,  might,  must,  they  often 
fall  to  the  lowest  level  (a),  especially  in  interrogative  sen- 
tences and  dependent  clauses.  When  so  reduced  their 
vowels  become  obscure.  In  colloquial  English  will  and  would 
often  lose  their  initial  w  and  have  its  initial  aspirate,  and 
the  auxiliaries  become  enclitics. 

The  predicate  copula,  and  do  used  to  form  compound 
or  emphatic  tenses,  are  relation  words,  and  have  the  stress 
of  auxiliary  verbs. 

40.  The  modal  auxiliaries  may,  might,  can,  could,  must, 
would  and  should,  normally  have  secondary  stress;  may, 
might,  must,  normally  high  secondary  stress  (d),  can,  could, 
would,  should,  normally  low  secondary  stress   (c).     The 

stress  varies,  however,  according  to  the  significance  of  the 
auxiliary.  If  the  condition  or  qualification  it  denotes  is 
important  the  auxiliary  has  high  secondary  stress;  if  slight 
or  unimportant,  low  secondary  stress.  The  diphthongs  of 
may  (mei),  might  (mait),  however,  usually  preserve  for 
them  a  high  secondary  stress. 

41.  The  tense  and  voice  auxiliaries,  am,  is,  art,  was,  wert, 
were,  been,  has,  have,  had,  will,  shall,  and  the  substantive 
verb  to  be,  normally  have  light  stress  (b). 

The  things  that  1  have  seen  I  now  can  see  no  more 
Wordsworth,  Intimations  of  Immortality. 

Our  sincerest  laughter  with  some  pain  is  fraught 
Shelley,  To  a  Skylark. 

And  he,  shall  he 

♦  ♦  ♦  *  * 

Be  blown  about  the  desert  dust 
Or  seal'd  within  the  iron  hills? 

Tennyson,  In  Memoriam,  LXI. 
Yet  hope  had  never  lost  her  youth  eFbEaEcF 

Tennyson,  In  Memoriam,  CXXX. 

Enclitic  forms  of  these  words,  though  characteristic  of 
colloquial  English,  so-metimes  appear  in  poetry. 


§44  LAWS  OF  VERB  STRESS  2$ 

King  Charles,  and  who'll  do  him  right  now? 
King  Charles,  and  who's  ripe  for  fight  now? 

Browning,  Cavalier  Tunes. 
Calm's  not  life's  crown,  though  calm  is  well; 
'Tis  all,   perhaps,  which   man   requires, 
But  'tis  not  what  our  youth  desires 

Matthew  Arnold,  Youth  and  Calm. 
Not  that  I'm  fit  for  such  a  noble  dish 
As  one  day  will  be  that  immortal  fry 
Of  almost  everybody  born  to  die 

Byron,  Vision  of  Judgment. 

42.  Did  used  to  form  the  archaic  and  poetic  past  tense  has 
secondary  stress  (c),  but  the  long  vowel  of  do  usually 
preserves  for  it  a  high  secondary  stress  (d). 

A  countenance  in  which  did  meet  aFaC  bDcF 

Sweet  records,   promises  as  sweet 

Wordsworth,  She  Was  a  Phantom  of  Delight. 
Once  again 
Do  I  behold  these  steep  and  lofty  cliflfs 
Wordsworth,  Tintern  Abbey. 
When  your  meaning's  plain 
It  does  not  say  to  folk,  "Remember  matins"      cDcFaF  cBaFb 
Browning,  Fra  Lippo  Lippi. 

43.  Successive  Auxiliaries. 

When  successive  auxiliaries  follow  one  another  the 
modal  auxiliaries  precede  the  tense  auxiliaries  and  usually 
have  higher  stress. 

Neighbors  we  were  and  loving  friends  we  mis:ht  have  been 
Wordsworth,  At  the  Grave  of  Burns. 

He  rode  a  horse  with  wings  that  would  have  flown, 

But  that  his  heavy  rider  kept  him  down 
Tennyson,   The  Vision   of  Sin. 

A  brute  I  might  have  been,  but  would  not  sink 

i'th'  scale  aFdEaB  bBbFbP 

Browning,  Rabbi  ben  Ezra. 

The  tendency  of  colloquial  English,  however,  is  to  re- 
duce all  auxiliaries  containing  short  vowels  uniformly  to 
the  lowest  stress. 

For  auxiliaries  in  negative  forms,  cp.  §57. 

44.  Auxiliaries  as  Notion  Verbs. 

The  auxiliary  verbs  of  English  are  originally  notion 
words,  and  a  few  of  them  still  retain  their  notion  quality. 
Have  denotes  possession  as  well  as  the  category  of  com- 
pleted action;  will,  intention;  can  (rarely),  power.  The 
notion  sense  of  the  others  has  quite  faded  out. 


26  LAWS  OF  VERB  STRESS  §44 

The  substantive  verb  to  be  still  connotes  existence, 
usually  continued  existence;  let  it  be  means  "let  it  remain." 
Do  is  rapidly  losing  its  notion  significance  of  "act,"  "ef- 
fect," "bring  about,"  and  giving  way  to  more  specific  forms 
of  connotation.  Its  chief  uses  in  modern  English  are  to 
represent  some  activity  specified  elsewhere  in  the  context 
and  to  form  negative  expressions. 

45.  Auxiliary  verbs  and  the  various  forms  of  "be"  and 
"do,"  when  used  as  notion  verbs  have  primary  stress  (£)• 

Yearnings  she  hath  in  her  own  natural  kind 

Wordsworth,  Ode  on  Intimations  of  Immortality. 
To  the  same,  same  self,  same  love,  same  God; 

ay,  what  was  shall  be  baFeF  eP  eF  eeFbF 

Browning,  Abt  Vogler. 
But  here  is  the  finger  of  God,  a  flash  of  the 
Will  that  can 

Browning,  Abt  Vogler. 
I  will,  the  mere  atoms  despise  me 

Browning,  Saul. 
I  ought  to  do  and  did  my  best 

Byron,  The  Prisoner  of  Chillon. 

46.  Auxiliaries  Representing  Notion  Verbs. 

Auxiliary  verbs  and  the  forms  of  "be"  and  "do"  rep- 
resenting verbs  in  the  immediate  context  take  the  stress 
of  notion  verbs  (f). 

But  thee  I  now  would  serve  more  strongly  if  I  may 

Wordsworth,  Ode  to  Duty. 
And  we  forget  because  we  must,  cDbFbFdF 

And  not  because  we  will 

Matthew  Arnold,  Absence. 
We  in  some  unknown  Power's  employ 
Move  on  a  rigorous  line; 
Can  neither  when  we  will,  enjoy, 
Nor  when  we  will,  resign 

Matthew  Arnold,  Obermann. 
So  on  I  drive,  enjoying  all  I  can 
And  knowing  all  I  can 

Browning,  Paracelsus,  IV. 

A  change  of  subject  will  usually  reduce  this  stress  to 
low  secondary  (c). 

I  report,  as  a  man  may,  of  God's  work,  all's 

love  yet  all's  law  dbFcaFcaFe  eFdeF 

Browning,  Abt  Vogler. 

Auxiliaries  and  the  copula  are  usually  used  in  this  way 
to  form  part  of  a  question;  e.  g.,  "can  he?"  "is  he?" 


ADVERBS 

The  adverb  may  be  either  a  notion-word  or  a  relation- 
word.  As  the  stress  of  a  word  largely  depends  upon  its 
notion  quality,  to  get  a  clear  idea  of  the  normal  stress 
values  of  adverbs  we  must  divide  them  into  two  classes, 
Notion  Adverbs  and  Relation  Adverbs. 

NOTION  ADVERBS. 

A  notion  adverb  is  one  in  which  the  attribute  of  the 
state  or  activity  expressed  is  clearly  conceived  as  a  con- 
cept; e.  g.  round,  "with  a  circular  movement,"  slow,  "with 
a  slow  movement,"  down,  "with  a  change  to  a  lower  po- 
sition," gladly,  "with  a  feeling  of  joy."  These  adverbs  have 
high  or  low  primary  (e  or  f)  stress  according  to  their  po- 
sition. 

47.  Postpositive  Notion  Adverbs. 

When  a  notion  adverb  immediately  follows  its  verb 
in  the  same  series  it  has  high  primary  stress  (f),  the  verb 
having  low  primary  (e). 

And  from  the  cottage  eaves 
Poors  forth  his  soul  in  gushes  eFcFcFa 

Wordsworth,  Green  Linnet. 
The  tide  flows  down,  the  wave  again 
Is  vocal  in  its  wooded  walls 

Tennyson,  In  Memoriam,  XIX. 
The  ship  drove  fast,  loud  roared  the  blast 

Coleridge,  Ancient  Mariner. 
The  lowing  herd  winds  slowly  o'er  the  lea 

Gray,  Elegy. 
The  hungry  sheep  look  up  and  are  not  fed 

Milton,  Lycidas. 
Sweet  Thames  run  softly  till  I  end  my  song 

Spenser,  Prothalamion. 

48.  Postpositive  Preposition-Adverbs. 

Prepositions  are  often  used  as  adverbs  to  make,  as  it 
were,  transitive  verbal  compounds.  So  "to  think  of,"  "to 
care  for,"  "to  come  to." 

Preposition-adverbs  following  the  verb  in  the  same 
series  have  low  secondary  stress  (c). 

This  wily  interchange  of  snaky  hues 

I  neither  knew  nor  cared  for  dBaF  cFc 

Wordsworth,  Prelude. 


28  LAIVS  OF  ADVERB  STRESS  §48 

It  Is  not  to  be  thought  of  that  the  flood 
Of  British  freedom,  etc. 

Wordsworth,  Sonnet. 
The  beadsman  after  thousand  aves  told 
For  aye  unsousrht  for  slept  among  his  ashes  cold 

Keats,  Eve  of  St.  Agnes. 

If  an  object  intervenes  between  the  verb  and  the  ad- 
verb part  of  these  compounds  the  adverb  usually  retains 
this  secondary  stress,  as  in  "To  cut  one's  nose  off  to  spite 
one's  face,"  "to  eat  one's  heart  out." 

Fashins:  their  life  out  with  a  brute's  intent        EcdFc  DaEcF 
Browning,  Childe  Roland. 

If,  however,  the  intervening  object  is  a  personal  pro- 
noun, the  adverb  has  its  normal  high  primary  stress,  e.  g. 
"bear  me  up,"  "sihe  cut  it  out." 

As  through  the  frame  that  binds  him  in  cDaE  cEcF 

His  isolation  grows  defined 

Tennyson,  In  Memoriam,  XLV. 

When  the  object  follows  the  adverb  part  of  these 
quasi-verbal  compounds  the  stress  of  the  adverb  in  prose 
is  usually  high  primary,  e.  g.  "Scratch  out  that  name," 
"my  little  girl  has  torn  out  three  pages  from  the  middle 
of  the  book."  But  in  poetry  the  adverb  often  has  sec- 
ondary stress,  e.  g. 

He  tore  out  a  reed,  the  great  God  Pan  d£eaF  aFeP 

E.  B.   Browning,  A  Musical  Instrument. 
Come,  fill  up  my  cup,  come,  fill  up  my  can 

Scott,  Bonnie  Dundee. 
To  fill  up  his  life  starve  niy  own  out 

Browning,   Saul. 
To  wear  out  heart  and  nerve  and  brain 

Clough,  Life  is  Struggle. 

49.     The  Prepositive  Notion  Adverb. 

When  the  Notion  adverb  precedes  the  verb  it  has  low 
primary  stress  (e). 

Here  pause:  these  graves  are  all  too  young  as  yet 

Shelley,  Adonais. 
And  full  grown  lambs  loud  bleat  from  hilly  bourn 

Keats,   Ode  to  Autumn. 
So   said,   so   done 

Browning,  The  Statue  and  the  Bust. 
Now  fades  the  last  long  streak  of  snow  eFaFePaP 

Tennyson,    In   Memoriam,   CXV. 


§51  LAWS  OF  ADVERB  STRESS  29 

As  when  the  potent  rod 
Waved  round  the  coast  up  called  a  pitchy  cloud 
Of  Locusts 

Milton,  Paradise  Lost,   I. 

When  the  adverb  precedes  an  auxiliary  it  thus  has 
higher  stress  than  the  auxiliary. 

I've  thought  of  all  by  turns  and  yet  do  lie 
Sleepless 

Wordsworth,  Sonnet  to  Sleep. 
Then  can  I  drown  an  eye  unused  to  flow 

Shakspere,   Sonnet   XXX. 

50.  The  adverb  is  subject  to  rhythm-stress  in  a  mono- 
syllabic series  of  adverb-verb-adverb;  e.  g.    "It  so  fell  out." 

And  thus  spake  on  that  ancient  man 

Coleridge,  Ancient  Mariner. 

51.  When  an  adverb  precedes  an  adjective   or  another 
adverb  it  has  low  primary  stress  (e). 

Full  soon  thy  soul  shall  have  her  earthly  freight 

Wordsworth,  Ode  on  Intimations  of  Immortality. 
Thoughts  that  do  often  lie  too  deep  for  tears 

Ibid. 
No  more  let  life  divide  what  death  can  join  together 

Shelley,  Adonais. 
Who  lacking  occupation  looks  far  forth  dEbEcFa  FeF 

Into  the  boundless  sea 

Wordsworth,  Prelude. 
Neither  made  man  too  much  a  God 
Nor  God  too  much  a  Man 

Matthew  Arnold,  Obermann. 
I  am  half  sick  of  shadows,  said 
The  Lady  of  Shallot 

Tennyson,  The  Lady  of  Shallot. 

Adverbs  preceding  participles  coone  under  this  law. 
Well  chosen  is  the  spirit  that  is  here  eFaCaFbCbF 

Wordsworth,  Nature  and  the  Poet. 
Our  gifts  once  given  must  here  abide 

Browning,  Paracelsus. 
And  Death  once  dead  there's  no  more  dying  then 

Shakspere,  Sonnet  CXLVI. 

The  adverb  +  adjective  group  gives  many  compound 
adjectives.  These  sometimes  have  the  stress  of  compound 
adjectives,  sometimes  retain  their  adverbial  sense-stress. 
Rhythm  generally  determines  the  stress  of  these  com- 
pounds in  poetry;  cp. — 


30  LAWS  OF  ADVERB  STRESS  §51 

Thy  hair  soft-lifted  by  the  winnowing  wind    dE.eFaDaE'bF 
and 

Or  on  a  half-reaped  furrow  sound  asleep  cDaDdFb  EaF 

Keats,  Ode  to  Autumn. 

52.  Rhythm-Stress  of  Adverbs. 

An  adverb  preceding  an  adjective  or  adverb  immedi- 
ately followed  by  a  primary  stress,  takes  high  primary 
stress  in  both  poetry  and  prose;  e.  g.  "too  much  money," 
"no  more  trifling.'* 

So  twice  five  miles  of  fertile  ground 
With  walks  and  towers  were  girdled  round 
Coleridge,  Kubhla  Kahn. 

A  sense  sublime 
Of  something  far  more  deeply  interfused 

Wordsworth,  Tintern  Abbey. 
The  world  is  too  much  with*  us  aEbFeFc 

Wordsworth,  The  World  is  Too  Much  With  Us. 

RELATION  ADVERBS 

Relation  adverbs  are  such  as  do  not  have  a  clear  con- 
ceptual meaning,  but  indicate  some  relation  between  con- 
cepts or  ideas.  They  naturally  divide  themselves  into 
Pronominal  Adverbs  and  Conjunctive  Adverbs.  The  lat- 
ter are  usually  Conjunctions. 

53.  Pronominal  Adverbs. 

The  adverbs  where,  when,  whence,  while,  why,  there, 
then,  than,  thence,  here,  hence,  so,  as,  usually  have  the 
secondary  stress  of  pronouns  (c  or  d). 

A  marsh  where  only  flat  leaves  lie  aP  dBbFeF 

Landor,  To  Wordsworth. 
The  truth  is  that  deep  well  whence  sages  draw 
The  unenvied  light  of  hope 

Shelley,  Epipsychidion. 
He  leaned  there  awhile 
And  sat  out  my  singing 

Browning,  Saul. 

There  is  used  in  English  as  an  indefinite  subject  instead 
of  it  and  when  so  employed  has  low  secondary  stress 
(c  or  b). 

To  me  alone  there  came  a  thought  of  grief 

Wordsworth,  Ode  on  Intimations  of  Immortality. 


♦For  stress  of  "with"  see  §61. 


§56  LAWS  OF  ADVERB  STRESS  31 

54.  The  adverbs  so,  than,  as,  are  often  mere  relation  words 
indicating  comparison  and  thus  used  have  light  stress.  In 
colloquial  English  they  tend  to  lose  their  stress  altogether. 

Tranquility,   thou  better  name 
Than  all  the  family  of  fame 

Coleridge,  Ode  to  Tranquility. 
Wouldst  thou  be  as  these  are?    Live  as  they? 

Arnold,  Self  Dependence. 

55.  When  the  adverbs  "now"  and  "then"  are  used  to 
mean  "in  this  case,"  "in  that  case,"  they  have  high  second- 
ary stress  (d). 

King  Charles,  and  who's  ripe  for  fight  now? 

Browning,  Give  a  Rouse. 
Blot  out  his  name  then  FecFd 

Browning,  The  Lost  Leader. 
Love,  then,  had  hope  of  richer  store 

Tennyson,   In  Memoriam,   LXXXI. 

Similarly,  too,  when  it  means  "also." 

But  silenter  the  town,  too,  as  I  passed 

Browning,  Return  of  the  Druses. 

Too,  however,  is  often  used  as  if  it  were  an  adjective, 
especially  after  pronouns,  as  "you  too,"  "me  too,"  and  in 
such  cases  takes  postpositive  adjective  stress  (f). 

I  too  have  passed  her  on  the  hills  dFcFc  Da  F 

Wordsworth,  Ruth. 

Negative  Adverbs. 

Negation  in  English  was  originally  expressed  by  the 
particle  ne  which  in  its  unstressed  form  was  proclitic  and 
is  still  retained  in  never  (=ne  ever),  no  (=ne  one),  will 
he  nill  he.  In  Middle  English  the  phrase  n  +  a  +  wiht, 
"not  any  person  or  thing"  gave  the  negative  indefinite 
"nought,"  naught.  The  accusative  case  of  this  pronoun 
cajne  to  be  used  adverbially  as  a  general  negative.  It  evi- 
dently had  light  stress  and  developed  into  not.  Hence 
our  modern  negative  adverb. 

The  adverb  no  is  from  an  Old  English  na  (=ne  +  a, 
not  ever);  nay  is  a  variant  of  the  same  form.  Both  words 
are  emphatic  and  normally  have  primary  stress. 

56.  Negation  with  Notion  Verbs. 

When  the  adverb  "not"  follows  a  notion  verb  it  has 
low  secondary  stress  (c). 


32  LAWS  OF  ADVERB  STRESS  §56 

I  curse  not,  for  my  heart  is  lost  in  thine 

Keats,  Eve  of  St.  Agnes. 
When  one  that  loves  and  knows  not  reaps 
A  truth  from  one  that  loves  and  knows 

Tennyson,  In  Memoriam. 

These  forms  with  postpositive  not*  are  now  mainly- 
poetic  and  literary.  Colloquial  English  substitutes  the 
periphrastic  form  with  do,  followed  by  the  low-stressed 
negative,  e.  g.  "I  think  not  so,"  has  become  "I  do  not 
think  so."  "Men  knew  not"  has  become  "Men  did  not 
know,"  etc. 

Where  the  heart  not  finds 
History  or  prophesy  of  friend 

Coleridge,   Lines  written   at  Ellingerode. 

57.  Negation  with  Auxiliary  Verbs. 

In  verb-forms  made  up  with  auxiliaries  "not"  usually 
follows  the  auxiliary  with  low  stress  (a).  When  there  are 
two  auxiliaries  "not"  follows  the  first  one. 

In  colloquial  English  the  stress  tends  to  disappear, 
producing  contractions,  can't  won't,  don't,  shouldn't, 
wouldn't,  etc. 

Whom  we  that  have  not  seen  thy  face  cDbCaBdF 

By  faith  and  faith  alone  embrace 

Tennyson,   In  Memoriam,   I. 
He  may  not  shame  such  tender  love  and  stay 

Browning,  Childe  Roland. 
He  would  not  discount  life  as  fools  do  here 
Paid  by  instalment 

Browning,  Grammarian's  Funeral. 

When  the  negative  follows  the  main  verb  it  has  high 
secondary  stress. 

And  that  unrest  which  men  miscall  delight 
Can  touch  him  not,  can  torture  not  again 

Shelley,  Adonais. 
That  benediction  which  the  eclipsing  curse 
Of  birth  can  quench  not 

Shelley,  Adonais. 

58.  Negative  Interrogative  Expressions. 

Negative  interrogative  expressions  in  Modern  English 
normally  contain  either  the  periphrastic  "do,"  or  an  auxil- 
iary with  the  light  stressed  "not"  immediately  following. 

♦The  prepositive  not  found  in  Elizabethan  English  is  rare  in 
Modern  English  but  occasionally  appears  in  poetry. 


§6o  LAWS  OF  ADVERB  STRESS  33 

In  these  forms  "not"  has  very  light  stress,  and  is  usually 
enclitic  in  colloquial  English..  The  noun  subject  usually 
follows  the  negative;  a  pronoun  subject  varies. 

Was  it  not  great?  did  not  he  throw  on  God        EczP  EbcEcF 
God's  task  to  make  the  heavenly  period 
Perfect  the  earthen? 

Browning,  Grammarian's  Funeral. 

59.  But. 

The  adverb  "but,**  meaning  "only,**  and  originally  con- 
fined to  negative  idioms,  is  common  as  a  qualified  nega- 
tive adverb  in  Modern  English  and  usually  has  low  sec- 
ondary stress  (c). 

She  did  but  look  with  dimmer  eyes 

Tennyson,  In  Memoriam,  CXXV. 

When  it  follows  can  not,  but  has  high  secondary 
stress  (d). 

A  poet  could  not  but  be  gay  aFcDedcF 

Wordsworth,  I  Wandered  Lonely  as  a  Cloud. 

PREPOSITIONS 

Prepositions  and  conjunctions  are  originally  notion 
adverbs  which  in  the  course  of  language  development  have 
become  relation  words.  A  few  of  these  relation  words  are 
still  used  in  all  three  categories  in  Modern  English;  e.  g. 
before,  after,  but.  Some  are  employed  now  as  prepositions 
and  now  as  adverbs,  as  abroad,  about,  across,  along, 
around,  by,  near,  behind,  below,  besides,  down,  inside, 
through,  to,  in,  under.  Some  are  used  as  adverbs  and  con- 
junctions, since,  hence,  so,  though  ("he  said  it  though"), 
yet.  The  stress  of  these  words  is  very  variable,  running 
all  the  way  from  high  primary,  when  they  are  used  ad- 
verbially with  sharp  conceptual  meaning,  to  the  lowest 
grade  of  stress  when  they  are  used  as  mere  relation  words. 

60.  Prepositions  used  as  Adverbs. 

When  words  classed  as  prepositions  are  used  as  ad- 
verbs they  usually  come  at  the  end  of  a  series  and  have 
high  primary  stress  (f). 

And  as  months  ran  on  and  murmur  of  battle  grew 

Tennyson,  Maud,  III. 
And  say  the  stone  is  not  yet  to  cFaFcDeF 

And  wait  for  words  to  come 

Arnold,  Obermann  Once  More. 


34        LAWS  OF  PREPOSITION  STRESS      §60 

And  thus  spake  on  that  ancient  man 

Coleridge,  Ancient  Mariner. 
As  through  the  frame  that  binds  him  in 
His  isolation  grows  defined 

Tennyson,  In  Memoriam,  XIV. 

Of  in  early  New  English,  being  accented  when  used 
adverbially,  retained  its  f  and  developed  a  spelling  forim  ofiF 
for  adverbial  usage;  the  preposition,  being  unaccented,  lost 
its  stress  and  was  distinguished  from  the  adverb  by  the 
spelling  of.  Too  is  an  early  differentiation  of  to  set  apart 
for  adverbial  usage  as  an  intensive.  Similarly  fro,  in  the 
adverbial  phrase  "to  and  fro,"  is  an  Old  Norse  form  of 
from  set  apart  for  adverbial  usage. 

61.  When  verb  and  preposition-adverb  is  followed  by  an 
object  the  high  primary  stress  is  a  means  of  distinguishing 
the  adverbial  significance  of  the  preposition. 

His  voice  came  to  us  from  the  neighboring  height 

Wordsworth,  Stanzas,  1802. 
The  winds  came  to  me  from  the  fields  of  sleep 

Wordsworth,  Ode  on  Intimations  of  Immortality, 
For  I  say  this  is  death,  and  the  sole  death 
When  a  man's  loss  comes  to  him  from  his  gain 

Browning,  Death  in  the  Desert. 

In  these  phrases  the  "preposition"  expresses  the  direc- 
tion-attribute of  the  movement  implied  in  the  verb,  rather 
than  a  relation  between  the  verb  and  the  pronoun,  which 
is  the  object  of  the  verbal  idea  as  a  whole.  Compare  these 
phrases  with 

Sudden  thy  shadow  fell  on  me  FadBb  FcD 

Shelley,  Hymn  to  Intellectual  Beauty. 

This  idiom  is  especially  common  after  the  substantive 
verb  where  the  preposition  has  a  quasiparticipial  meaning. 

God  being  with  thee  when  we  know  it  not      FecFd  EdFcD 

Wordsworth,  It  is  a  Beauteous  Evening. 
Weeping;  none  with  [i.  e.   ••accompanying"]   her 
save  a  little  maid 

Tennyson,  Guinivere. 
She  is  not  of  [i.  e.  "belonging  to"]  us  as  I  divine 

Tennyson,  Maud. 
Shakspere  was  of  [i.  e.  "belonging  to"]  us,  Milton 

was  for  [i.  e.  ••favoring"]  us 
Burns,  Shelley  were  with  us — they  watch  from  their  graves 

Browning,  The  Lost  Leader. 


§65      LAWS  OF  PREPOSITION  STRESS        35 

62.  When  the  object  of  the  preposition  is  a  relative  pro- 
noun the  preposition  often  stands  at  the  end  of  the  rela- 
tive clause.  Under  such  conditions  the  preposition  has  low 
secondary  stress  (c).  These  prepositions  must  not  be 
confused  with  adverbs. 

And  all  those  acts  which  deity  supi-eme 
Doth  case  its  heart  of  love  in 

Keats,  Endymion. 
The  path  we  came  by  [i.  e.  "by  which  we  came"] 

Tennyson,  In  Memoriam,  XLVl. 
This  Is  the  spray  the  bird  clung  to, 
This  is  the  heart  the  queen  leant  on 

Browning,  Misconceptions. 

63.  Prepositions  used  merely  to  indicate  categories  of  re- 
lation usually  have  low  secondary  or  light  stress,  either 
(c)  or  (b) ;  and  often  take  low  stress  (a)  in  colloquial  Eng- 
lish. The  commonest  of  these  are  of,  in,  to,  for,  with, 
from;  by  always  retains  its  secondary  stress  (c),  and  on 
and  at  usually.  In  poetry  they  are  subject  to  verse-stress 
when  preceded  and  followed  by  low  stressed  impulses. 

The  primal  duties  shine  aloft — like  stars; 

The  charities  that  soothe  and  heal  and  bless 

Are  scattered  at  the  feet  of  Man — like  flowers. 

«  *  *  ♦  « 

here  is  no  boon  for  high, 
Yet  not  for  low;  for  proudly  graced, 
Yet  not  for  meek  of  heart.     The  smoke  ascends 
To  heaven  as  lightly  from  the  cottage  hearth 
As  from  the  haughtiest  palace.     He  whose  soul 
Ponders  this  true  equality  may  walk 
The  fields  of  earth  with  gratitude  and  hope 
Wordsworth,  The  Excursion. 

64.  Doubled  Prepositions. 

When  two  prepositions  succeed  one  another  the  first 
has  the  higher  stress,  being  construed  adverbially;  e.  g. 
in  to,  on  to,  up  on.  These  combinations  and  that  of  the 
pure  adverb  with  following  preposition  are  very  subject 
to  verse  stress. 

65.  Disyllabic  Prepositions. 

As  prepositions  are  relation-words  the  word-stressed 
syllable  of  disyllabic  forms  is  normally  not  higher  than 
a  secondary  stress.  This  is  usually  the  case  in  prose, 
and  in  poetry  where  the  verse-stress  does  not  interfere 
with  the  normal  word-stress,  e.  g. 


36        LAWS  OF  PREPOSITION  STRESS      §65 

What  more  to  see  between  Hell  and  Heaven         dFaFccFaF 

Rossetti,  Sister  Helen. 
Where  between  granite  terraces 
Tlie  blue  Seine  rolls  her  wave 

Matthew  Arnold,  Obermann. 

But  these  disyllabic  prepositions  are  subject  to  verse- 
stress. 

66.    Pronouns  after  Disyllabic  Prepositions. 

After  disyllabic  prepositions,  especially  those  like 
upon,  against,  between,  below,  before,  behind,  the  pronoun 
normally  has  low  secondary  stress  (c). 

I  gazed  upon  thee 
Till  thou,  still  present  to  the  bodily  sense, 
Didst  vanish  from  my  thought 

Coleridge,  Before  Sunrise  in  the  Vale  of  Chamouni. 

When — ^where — 

How  can  this  arm  establish  her  above  me? 
Browning,  Pippa  Passes. 


CONJUNCTIONS 

Conjunctions  are  syntactically  relation  words  and  nor- 
mally have  low  stress.  But  a  connection,  especially  if  ad- 
versative or  conditional,  is  often  itself  notional;  for  in- 
stance, but,  connoting  opposition;  though,  abatement;  if, 
hypothesis.  So  conjunctions  vary  greatly  in  their  stress 
relations,  some  like  though  and  yet  never  falling  below  the 
high  secondary  grade;  others,  Hke  and  and  or  often  in  very 
close  connections  falling  to  the  lowest  grade. 

Conjunctions  are  very  apt  to  fall  in  a  series  of  low- 
stressed  syllables,  and  hence  are  very  subject  to  verse- 
stress. 

67.     Concessive  and  Illative  conjunctions  normally  have 
high  secondary  or  low  primary  stress  (d  or  e). 

Though  late,  thougrh  dimmed,  though  weak,  yet  tell 
Hope  to  a  world  new  made 

Matthew  Arnold,  Obermann  Once  More. 
For  all  day  we  drag  our  burden  tiring 
Through  the  coal-dark,  underground. 
Or  all  day  we  drive  the  wheels  of  iron 
In  the  factories  round  and  round 

E.  B.  Browning,  The  Cry  of  the  Children. 


§71      STRESS  OF  REPEATED  NOTIONS        37 

6S.  The  Conditional  conjunction  normally  has  low  sec- 
ondary stress  (c),  but  if  the  condition  is  emphasized  the 
stress  rises  to  high  secondary  or  even  to  primary. 

Nor  count  me  all  to  blame  if  I 
Conjecture  of  a  stiller  guest 

Tennyson,   In  Memoriam,  CXXXI. 
Though  if  an  eye  that's  downward  cast 
Could  make  thee  somewhat  blench  and  fall 
Then  be  my  love  an  idle  tale 
And  fading  legend  of  the  past 

Tennyson,   In  Memoriam,  LXII. 

69.  The  Copulative  and  Disjunctive  conjunctions  normally 
have  light  stress  (b),  but  the  importance  of  the  connection 
may  raise  them  to  higher  levels. 

And  is  often  used  as  an  emphatic  connective,  and  as 
such  it  has  high  primary  stress  (f). 

For  I  say  this  is  death  and  the  sole  death        EdcFeF  FaeF 
When  a  man's  loss  comes  to  him  from  his  gain 
Browning,  A  Death  In  the  Desert. 

INTERJECTIONS 

70.  Interjections  express  an  intense  emotional  conscious- 
ness and  are  high  level  notions.  But  when  they  occur  in  a 
context  their  stress  is  not  so  high  as  that  of  a  full  stressed 
notion  word. 

Then  cleave,  O  cleave,  to  that  which  still  is  left 

Wordsworth,  Two  Voices. 
Ah,  why  wilt  thou  affright  a  feeble  soul 

Keats,  Eve  of  St.  Agnes. 
Ah,  vain  denial 

E.  B.  Browning,  To  George  Sand. 
O  me,  that  1  should  ever  see  the  light 

Tennyson,  Dream  of  Fair  Women. 
O  true  and  tried,  so  well  and  long 

Tennyson,   In  Memoriam,   CXXXI. 

REPEATED   NOTIONS 

71.  When  a  notion  word  is  repeated  it  gains  in  stress 
with  each  repetition;  e.  g.  when  impatient  we  say  "come, 
come"  (ef),  not  "come,  come"  (fe). 

Then  sing,  ye  birds,  sing,  sing  a  joyous  song 

Wordsworth,  Ode  on  Intimations  of  Immortality. 


38        STRESS  OF  REPEATED  NOTIONS      §71 

Ttong,  long  shall  I  rue  thee  eFbcFc 

Byron,  When  We  Two  Parted. 
See,  see,  I  cried,  she  tacks  no  more 

Coleridge,  Ancient  Mariner. 
Soon,  soon  thy  cheer  would  die 

Arnold,  Scholar  Gipsy. 
Man,  man  is  king  of  the  world  eFcEaaF 

Arnold,  The  Youth  of  Man. 
liost,  lost,  yet  come 
With  our  man  troop  make  thy  home. 
Come,  come,  for  we 
Will  not  breathe,  so  much  as  breathe 
Reproach  to  thee 

Browning,  Paracelsus,  II. 
Gone,  gone 
Those  pleasant  times 

Browning,  Paracelsus,  III. 

Blow,  blow,  thou  winter  wind 
***** 

Freeze,  Freeze,  thou  bitter  sky 

Shakspere,  As  You  Like  It,  II.  7.  174. 

72.  If  the  repeated  notion  is  a  monosyllabic  adjective  fol- 
lowed by  a  monosyllabic  noun  the  adjective  and  noun  are 
usually  differentiated  rhythmically. 

Alone  on  a  wide,  wide  sea  aFcaFeF 

Coleridge,  Ancient  Mariner. 
And  there  I  shut  her  wild,  wild  eyes 

Keats,  La  Belle  Dame  Sans  Merci. 

73.  Repeated  monosyllabic  imperatives  may  each  repre- 
sent an  entire  wave  in  verse,  in  which  case  there  is  no 
differentiation. 

Work,         work,         work 

Till  the  brain  begins  to  swim 

Hood,  Song  of  the  Shirt. 
Break,      break,      break  F  F  F 

On  thy  cold  gray  stones,  O  Sea  cdFeFeF 

Tennyson,  Break. 

In  some  rare  cases  this  takes  place  with  other  than 
imperative  forms. 

O  ship       ship,       ship  eF  F  F 

That  travelest  over  the  sea 

What  are  the  tidings,  I  pray  thee, 

Thou  bearest  hither  to  me 

Clough,  Songs  in  Absence. 


II. 

THE  LAWS  OF  VERSE  STRESS. 

The  foregoing  laws  have  to  do  mainly  with  those 
forms  of  stress  which  we  employ  in  our  prose  thinking. 
But  even  in  prose,  stress  shows  a  marked  tendency  to 
take  on  rhythmic  form.  Polysyllabic  word-stress  is  al- 
most invariably  rhythmic  in  English.  A  succession  of 
high-stressed  monosyllables  in  a  single  series  is  likewise 
rhythmically  differentiated  even  in  prose.  This  tendency 
of  rhythm  to  react  on  stress  is,  of  course,  far  more  po- 
tent in  poetry  than  it  is  in  prose.  For  poetry  establishes 
in  our  minds  an  awareness  of  the  rhythmic  patterns  to 
which  the  stress-waves  conform.  When,  therefore,  we  find 
verses  in  good  poetry  where  the  words,  if  read  as  mere 
prose,  fail  to  accord  with  the  rhythmic  movement  of  the 
verse  pattern  the  poet  is  using,  a  tendency  arises  in  our 
minds  to  make  the  irregular  series  conform  to  the  pat- 
tern. This  tendency  produces  a  phenomenon  which  we 
call  Verse-Stress. 

Verse-stress  may  alter  the  normal  form  of  either 
syllable  series  or  word  series,  thus  modifying  word-stress 
(accent)   or  sense-stress. 

74.  Verse-stress  as  Affecting  Word-stress. 

When  successive  unaccented  syllables  follow  one  an- 
other in  polysyllabic  words,  verse-stress  will  often  give 
one  of  them  a  light  stress  (B).  Such  words  as  "miserable," 
"unintelligible,"  may  in  poetry  take  a  verse-stress  on  the 
penultimate  syllable. 

Pasturing  flowers  of  vegretable  fire  EbbFaEaAaF 

Shelley,   Prometheus  III.  4.  110. 
The  fretful  stir 
Unprofitable  and  the  fever  of  the  world 

Wordsworth,  Tintern  Abbey. 
'Tis  dark;  quick  pattereth  the  flaw-blown  sleet 

Keats,    Isabella. 
Such  miracles  performed  in  play  dFaA  aEbF 

Browning,  Two  in  Campagna. 

75.  The  tendency  to  make  successive  low-strossed  im- 
pulses rhythmic  sometimes  extends  to  cases  where  low- 
stressed  impulses  follow  secondary  accents. 

Every   sight 
Sent  to  his  heart  its  choicest  impulses  EbcF  cEbFaB 

Shelley,  Alastor. 


40  THE  LAWS  OF  VERSE  STRESS        §75 

She  touched  his  eyelashes  with  libant  lip  dEcFcD  bEaF 

Landor,  Tamar  and  the  Nymph. 
The   sojourners   of   Goshen   who   beheld 
From  the  safe  shore  their  floating  carcases 

Milton,  Paradise  Lost,  I. 
Within  the  soul  a  faculty  abides 
That  with  interpositions  which  would  hide 
And  darken  so  can  deal  that  they  become 
Contingencies  of  pomp 

Wordsworth,   Excursion. 

76.     Shifting  of  Word-Accent  due  to  Verse-Stress. 

The  verse-stress  sometimes  shifts  the  normal  accent 
of  a  disyllabic  word  when  its  two  successive  syllables  are 
nearly  equal  in  value.  These  cases  are  rare,  but  occasion- 
ally  appear  in  the  best  poetry.  They  are  usually  found 
where  the  tensity  of  the  verse  series  is  particularly  strong 
or  the  coloring  of  the  rhythm  peculiarly  p:raphic. 

The  most  frequent  cases  of  accent-shift  occur  with 
disyllabic  prepositions.  The  preposition  is  normally  a 
lightly  stressed  word,  so  this  shift  is  usually  an  extension 
of  the  principle  of  §75. 

Her  sad  dependence  upon  time,  and  all  cEbFaBaF  cF 

The  trepidations  of  mortality 

Wordsworth,  Excursion,  Despondency  Corrected. 
Sublimely  mild,  a  spirit  without  spot  cEbF  aEbCbF 

Shelley,  Adonais. 
An  equal  amongrst  mightiest  energies 

Wordsworth,  Excursion. 

Alas,  how  light  a  cause  may  move 
Dissension  between  hearts  that  love  bEaDcEaF 

Moore,  The  Light  of  the  Harem. 
Come,   blessed  barrier  between  day   and  day 

Wordsworth,  Sonnet  to  Sleep. 
A  spot  of  dull  stagnation  without  light 
Or  power  of  movement  seemed  my  soul 

Tennyson,  Dream  of  Fair  Women. 

A  few  disyllabic  Adverbs  also  occasionally  shift  their 
accent  in  poetry. 

It  was  so  light  almost  CbeF  eF- 

I  thought  that  I  had  died  in  sleep 

Coleridge,  Ancient  Mariner. 
And  hasten  off  to  play  elsewhere  aEaF  bEeF 

Browning,  Epilogue  to  Men  and  Women. 
And  all  my  deeper  passions  lay  elsewhere 

Wordsworth,  Prelude. 

Looks  once  and  drives  elsewhere  and  leaves 
its  last  employ 

Arnold,  Empedocles  on  Etna. 


ACCENT  OF  COMPOUND  ADJECTIVES  SHIFTED 
BY  VERSE  STRESS. 

n.  Disyllabic  numeral  compounds  with  "teen"  and  disyl- 
labic adjectives  containing  verbal  or  adverbial  elements, 
tend  to  rhythmic  accent  according  to  their  context.  When 
they  precede  their  nouns  they  have  a  falling  stress  (Ed) ; 
when  they  follow  or  are  used  predicatively  they  have  a 
rising  stress  (dF).  (This  principle  holds  true  for  prose 
also.) 

Thirteen  hundred  years  EdEaF 

Of  wealth  and  glory  turned  to  dust  and  tears 

Byron,   Ode,   Venice. 
Years   be   numbered   scarce   thirteen  FdEa  EdP 

Jonson,  Epitaph  on  Salathiel  Pavy. 
Fifteen  years  have  gone  around 

Matthew  Arnold,   Rugby  Chapel. 
And  wherever  the  beat  of  her  unseen  feet 

Shelley,   The  Cloud. 
Thou  art  unseen  and  yet  I  hear  thy  shrill  delight 

Shelley,  the  Skylark. 
A  new-made  world  upsprings  aEdF  dF 

Arnold,  Empedocles  on  Etna. 
Hope  to  a  world  new-made  FbaEdF 

Arnold,   Obermann  Once  More. 
The  rich,   proud  cost  of  outworn,  buried  age 

Shakspere,   Sonnet  LXIV. 
Thus  is  his  cheek  the  map  of  days  out  worn 
Shakspere,   Sonnet  LXVIII. 

1^.  In  poetry  the  verse-stress  sometimes  shifts  the  ac- 
cent of  closely  compounded  adjectives. 

The  forms 
Which  an  abstract  intelligence  supplies  DadEcEaBbF 

Wordsworth,  Excursion. 
At  length  into  the  obscure  forest  came 
The  vision 

Shelley,   Epipsychidion. 
Another  clipped  her  profuse  locks  aEaF  cEdF 

Shelley,  Adonais. 
Was  raised  by  intense  pensiveness 

Shelley,  Alastor. 
Save  for  the  garment's  extreme  fold 

Browning,  Christmas  Eve  and  Easter  Day. 
All  a  simmer  with  intense  strain 

Ibid,  IV. 


ACCENT    OF    COMPOUND    NOUNS    SHIFTED    BY 
VERSE  STRESS. 

79.  Most  Compound  Nouns  are  made  up  of  a  limiting 
notion  followed  by  a  nominal  notion:  the  two  parts  have 
nearly  equal  accent  in  the  order  fe  or  fd,  according  to 
the  closeness  of  the  compound.  The  increment  of  verse- 
stress  is  often  sufficient  to  shift  this  relation,  giving 
rhythm-forms  in  poetry  which  are  not  normal  in 
prose.  The  effect  of  such  a  shift  is  to  stress  the  limiting 
part  of  the  notion  as  if  it  were  an  independent  adjective; 
and  if  a  monosyllabic  adjective  precedes  the  compound, 
the  series  becomes  rhythmic;  cp.  §14.  Instances  abound 
in  the  best  English  poetry. 

The  sanguine  sun-rise  with  his  meteor  eyes     aEbdF  bcEbaF 

Shelley,  The  Cloud. 
Where  all  the  long  and  lone  daylight 

Shelley  To-Night. 
That  little  town  by  river  or  sea-shore 

Keats,  Ode  on  a  Grecian  Urn. 
Our  scholar  travels  yet  the  loved  hill-side 

Arnold,  Thyrsis. 
Within   the  waste  sea-dunes 

Tennyson,  The  Flight. 
How  often  shall  her  old  flro-side  eFaD  cFeF 

Be  cheered  with  tidings  of  the  bride 

Tennyson,  In  Memoriam,  XL. 

MISCELLANEOUS   ACCENT  SHIFTINGS   DUE  TO 
VERSE  STRESS. 

80.  In  those  cases  where  only  accent  distinguishes  a  verb 
from  a  noun  or  adjective  of  the  same  form,  the  poets  oc- 
casionally shift  this  accent. 

The  fruitful  hours  of  still  increase  aEbF  aEdF 

Tennyson,    In   Memoriam,    XLVI. 

And  feign   kind  gods  who  perfect  what  man 
vainly  tries 

Arnold,  Empedocles  on  Etna. 

81.  Poets  sometimes  retain  forms  of  accent  which  have 
become  obsolete  in  prose. 

What  awful  perspective!  dEbFbC 

Wordsworth,  King's  College  Chapel. 
Cp.      And  perspective  it  is  best  painter's  art 
Shakspere,  Sonnet  XXIV. 


§82        THE  LAWS  OF  VERSE  STRESS         43 

With  the  thing 
Contemplated  describe  the  Mind  and  Man         bFcC  bEaFbF- 
Contemplating: 

Wordsworth,  The  Recluse. 

A  few  words  have  a  stress  on  one  side  of  the  Atlantic 
different  from  that  which  they  have  on  the  other,  hence 
Rossetti's 

Thou  throned  in  every  heart's  alcove  eFbEbEcF 

Rossetti,  Equal  Troth. 


VERSE-STRESS  AS  AFFECTING  SENSE  STRESS. 

Verse-stress  will  sometimes  alter  the  normal  stress- 
values  of  a  word  series.  In  these  cases  the  altered  words 
must  be  kept  in  the  same  series  and  the  attention  main- 
tained at  a  high  level  until  the  last  word  of  the  rhythm 
phrase  is  reached:  e.  g.  in  Shelley's  lines 

Many  a   green   isle  needs  must  be 

In  the  deep  wide  sea  of  misery 

it  is  necessary  to  hold  all  the  notions  of  the  first  line  close- 
ly together  as  a  single  idea.  If  one  breaks  the  line  into 
two  series,  "Many  a  green  isle"  "needs  must  be,"  the 
stress  of  the  first  series  will  run  to  the  rhythm,  FbaeF,  and 
the  pattern  form  of  the  verse  will  be  destroyed.  Similarly 
in  all  these  cases  of  stress  shift  the  alteration  is  justified 
only  by  a  consciousness  of  the  integrity  of  the  rhythm 
phrase  whose  form  dominates  the  normal  sense-stresses. 

82.  A  series  of  monosyllabic  verbs  or  nouns  is  differen- 
tiated rhythmically  in  poetry* 

liove,  Hope,  Fear,  Faith,  these  make  Humanity       cFe  FedFbc 

Browning,   Paracelsus,   III. 
Ah  God,  for  a  man  with  heart,  head,  hand  eF  baFcFeF 

Like  some  of  the  simple  great  ones  long  gone  by! 

Tennyson,  Maud,  I. 
Perchance  speak,  kneel,  touch,  kiss 

Keats,  Eve  of  St.  Agnes. 
Master,  Master  of  the  Night  Fa  FaCaF 

Bid  it  spend  BcF 

Speech,  Songr,  Prayer  and  end  aright  FeF  bEaF 

D.  G.   Rossetti,   Love's  Nocturn. 
Beast,  bird,  flsh,  insect,  what  no  eyes  can  see 

Pope,  Essay  on  Man. 
Kun  on  and  ragre,  sweat,  censure  and  condemn 

Jonson,  New  Era. 


44  THE  LAWS  OF  VERSE  STRESS        §82 

Man,  brute,  reptile,  fly,  alien  of  end  and  of  aim 

Browning,  Abt  Vogler.  [eFecF  FbaFbaF 

And  lo,  with  that  leap  of  my  spirit,  heart,  hand 
harp  and  voice 

Browning,  Saul. 

83.  In  double  rhythm  forms,  verse-stress  will  sometimes 
make  a  succession  of  adjectives  rhythmic  according  to  the 
pattern  of  the  verse.  This  phenomenon  is  frequent  in 
Browning's  verse. 

Nor  was  hurt  any  more  caFebF 

Than  by  slow,  pallid  sunsets  in  Autumn  ye  watch 

from  the  shore  bcFebFdbEa  dFcaF 

At  their  sad,  level  gaze  o'er  the  ocean,  a  sun's 

slow  decline  ccFeaFdbFa  aFecF 

Over   hills   which   resolved   in   stern   silence   o'erlap 

and  entwine 
Base  with  base 

Browning,  Saul,  X. 
Bear  the  brunt,  in  a  minute  pay  glad  life's  arrears 
Of  pain,  darkness,  and  cold 

Browning,  Prospice. 

84.  Sense-Stress  Shifted  by  Verse-Stress. 

The  stress  of  an  attribute  notion  is  very  nearly  as 
high  as  that  of  the  following  nominal  notion.  The  addi- 
tional verse-stress  added  to  a  monosyllabic  adjective  will 
therefore  sometimes  raise  it  above  its  noun.  Instances 
are  rare  in  good  poetry,  and  it  is  only  where  the  verse 
pattern  is  strongly  impressed  in  the  mind  that  the  shift 
of  sense-stress  is  tolerable. 

Till  the  calm  rivers,  lakes  and  seas  daFeaFaF 

Shelley,  The  Cloud. 
The  fnll  draught  of  wine  aFeaF 

Browning,  Saul. 
Of  the  palm's  self  whose  slow  growth  produced  it 

Ibid. 

These  shifts  of  adjective  stress  often  produce  the  ef- 
fect of  emphasis  by  calling  attention  to  the  attribute. 

Lift  up  your  heads  sweet  spirits,  heavily, 
And  make  a  pale  light  in  your  cypress  glooms 

Keats,  Isabella. 
And  winter  robing  with  pure  snow  and  crowns 
Of  starry  ice  the  gray  grass  and  bare  boughs 

Shelley,  Alastor. 

This  emphasis  is  often  so  strong  as  to  produce  a  slight 
pause  after  the  adjective,  and  give  the  effect  of  an  arti- 
ficial caesura. 


§86        THE  LAWS  OF  VERSE  STRESS         45 

And  watch  the  curl'd    white  of  the  coming  wave 

Before  it  breaks  [cEaF-  FbaEbF 

Tennyson,  Merlin  and  Vivian. 
The  warm     serge  and  the  rope  that  goes  all  round 

Browning,   Fra   Lippo   Lippi. 
The  lone  couch  of  his  everlasting  sleep  aF-  FbcDaEbP 

Shelley,  Alastor. 
Till  in  the  cold    wind  that  foreruns  the  morn 

Tennyson,  Guinivere. 
With  fierce  grusts  and  precipitating  force        cF-  FabEbDbF 

Shelley,  Alastor. 

85.  The  articles  "a"  or  "an"  and  "the"  are  normally  un- 
stressed words  in  English  and  are  pronounced  obscurely. 
In  poetry,  however,  the  verse  pattern  sometimes  gives 
them  additional  stress  value.  Instances  are  comparatively 
rare  and  the  effect  is  almost  always  unpleasant.  These 
verse-stressed  a's  and  the's  usually  follow  a  low-stressed 
impulse,  so  the  series  is  aB  or  bC,  followed  by  dE  or  eF, 
with  a  crescendo  effect  in  the  rhythm.  Wordsworth  is 
especially  fond  of  this  peculiar  stress: 

Thy  art  be  nature;  the  live  current  quafiC  FedFb  CeFbF 

Wordsworth,   Sonnet,   The  Poet. 
The  Sonnet  glittered  a  gay  myrtle  leaf  aEbFaBeFaF 

Amid  the  cypress  with  which  Dante  crowned 
His  visionary   brow 

Wordsworth,   Scorn   not  the  Sonnet. 
Whose  huge  ribs  make 
Their  clay   creator  the  vain  title  take 
Of  lord  of  thee 

Byron,  Childe  Harold. 
Wherewith  disturbed  she  uttered  a  soft  moan 

Keats,  Eve  of  St.  Agnes. 
Consuming  the  last  clouds  of  cold  mortality 

Shelley,  Adonais. 

86.  Unstressed  monosyllables,  especially  prepositions, 
falling  in  series  with  unaccented  syllables  or  other  un- 
stressed monosyllables,  are  differentiated  by  verse-stress 
according  to  the  verse  pattern.  Instances  are  too  common 
to  need  illustration. 


POETRY  AS  A  FINE  ART. 

All  Fine  Art  has  two  aspects.  It  presents  to  the  mind 
a  fusion  of  two  elements,  the  one  substantial,  the  other 
formal.  The  substantial  element  consists  of  objects  or 
ideas  which  the  normal  mind  contemplates  with  especial 
interest.  The  formal  element  consists  in  definite  arrange- 
ments of  the  component  parts  of  this  interesting  subject 
matter  in  such  forms  as  the  normal  mind  regards  with 
favor.  The  value  of  any  work  of  art  lies  chiefly  in  the 
completeness  and  perfection  with  which  these  two  ele- 
ments are  fused  in  it. 

The  substance  of  the  Art  of  English  Poetry  is  ideas; 
its  formal  element  is  a  rhythmic  variation  of  sense  stress. 
With  every  idea  that  formulates  itself  in  English  words 
there  is  associated  a  certain  series  of  varying  intensities  of 
mental  energy  determined  by  the  laws  formulated  in  §§1-73; 
throug*h  this  association  the  series  becomes  an  integral 
part  of  the  idea  itself.  When  we  think  English  in  its  prose 
form  we  are  not  sharply  conscious  of. these  stress  varia- 
tions, and  do  not  compare  them  with  one  another.  We 
are  only  aware  of  them  as  they  enhance  meaning.  One 
would  hardly  notice  that  such  a  sentence  as 

"By  what  force  of  language  shall  a  feeling 
heart  express  its  sorrow  for  that  multitude  in 
whom  we  look  for  health  from  seeds  that  have 
been  sown  in  sickness?" 
contained  a  rhythmic  arrangement  of  syllables  in  respect 
to  their  varying  intensities.     But  when  one  thinks  these 
syllables  in  their  context  as  they  appear  in  Wordsworth's 
poem,  "The  Excursion,"  they  fall  into  the  common  pat- 
tern-form of  its  verse  without  any  distortion  or  exaggera- 
tion of  their  relative  values. 

And  this  is  more  or  less  true  of  all  poetry:  some  ex- 
pectation of  aesthetic  arrangement  is  the  necessary  back- 


POETRY  AS  A  FINE  ART  47 

ground  of  our  response  to  its  art  form.  Under  modern 
conditions  the  initial  ground  of  this  expectation  commonly 
lies  in  the  printed  form  of  verse:  successive  equal  or  pro- 
portional lines  of  printed  words  clearly  distinguished  from 
one  another  always  arouse  this  expectation,  whether  the 
expectation  is  subsequently  justified  or  not.  Other  "keys'* 
are  the  emotional  associations  of  words,  forms  of  phrasing 
which  are  unusual  in  ordinary  prose  thinking,  figurative 
language  (one  of  Aristotle's  distinctions),  or  the  presence 
of  rhyme,  alliteration,  or  some  obvious  design-form.  In 
English  poetry  such  an  expectation  makes  us  realize  the 
relative  intensity  of  successive  syllables  as  we  apprehend 
the  meanings  which  their  series  suggest. 

This  realized  stress-variation  yields  the  feeling  of 
rhythm;  for  the  poet  has  originally  formed  the  series  under 
the  influence  of  a  strong  emotion  which  pulses  rhythmical- 
ly through  them.  As  we  realize  the  meaning-series  of  his 
words  there  is  thus  fused  with  them  a  succession  of 
rhythm-series  produced  by  their  stress  variation. 

We  then  become  aware  that  these  rhythm-series  are 
made  up  of  proportioned  units  which  group  themselves  in 
successive  design-forms.  Thus  the  element  of  proportion 
and  design  is  fused  with  the  process  of  realizing  the  mean- 
ing of  the  rhythmic  syllable  successions. 

From  a  psychological  point  of  view  we  may  therefore 
define  English  Poetry  as  a  Fine  Art  in  which  beautiful 
design-forms  are  fused  with  the  periodic  prccsses  of  a 
rhythmically  moving  consciousness  creating  ideas  out  of 
successive  syllable  series — 

It  is  all  triumphant  art,  but  art  in  obedience  to  laws. 


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